Kingdom of Dragons
by G0ne1
Summary: After a failed attempt to save the Empire and prevent a war, the Dragonborn and company find themselves shipwrecked in a new land about to explode into a war of it's own, and if they want to survive, neutrality is not an option.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my second attempt at a fanfiction. My first didn't work out and to be deleted, but while I'm no professional, I have gotten better at writing. I've been reading the other crossovers lately and they've inspired me to try again. Enough of my rating. Enjoy!**

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The bald man who stood in the doorway didn't even flinch when Yorren jumped at him from out of the bed with his dragonbone dagger drawn. Once his eyes adjusted and his initial shock had passed he lowered the dagger.

"Gregor, what are you doing?", Yorren asked as he sat back down at the edge of his bed.

"Forgive the intrusion my Thane, but a Legionnaire has just arrived with an urgent message for you."

Yorren looked out the window and saw that the sun was only beginning to rise. "What could be so important that he arrived now?"

"He didn't say. Only that it was of the utmost importance."

The woman who was still in the bed groaned. "Yorren, tell whoever it is it better be important before I eat them," Serana sleepily muttered.

Yorren laughed under his breath and turned back to Gregor. "Alright. Tell him I will be down in a few minutes.

"Yes my Thane." With that Gregor turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Yorren smiled as Serana slowly sat up and the bed sheet fell down exposing her bare chest. She caught him staring and smirked.

"Enjoy the view?" She asked as she teasingly squeezed her breasts with her arms.

Yorren only smiled wider. While he did enjoy her teasing he was also transfixed by the way her unnaturally pale skin seemed to glow in the early morning light. AS much as he wanted to stay he had to see what the Legionnaire had the was so important. He didn't feel like taking the time to dress in his Imperial Officer armor but also wasn't just going to throw on a simple robe either. He finally settled on a set of brown fine clothes with a yellow trim and fixed a gold Imperial Dragon pin to the breast.

He smiled at Serana who'd sat in the bed watching him while he dressed. "You Know, for a person who doesn't need sleep you sure do take a long time to get up."

She leaned back stretched. "I like to sleep. I try to enjoy it for as long as I can." Yorren gave her look that made her roll her eyes. "Fine. I'll put on something to you as ordered!"presentable and meet you downstairs in a few minutes." Yorren leaned in and kissed her before walking out of the room.

As Yorren descended the stairs to the main hall he saw a young orc clad in Imperial Studded armor jump o his feet and salute him. "Quaestor Gholob reporting

Yorren saluted back. "At ease soldier."

"Yes legate.. Err.. Sir…"

"Just sit down and relax." The orc nodded and returned to the chair he had been sitting in. "Gregor would you mind fetching us some drinks?" Gregor nodded and left to the kitchen. The orc Legionnaire looked uncomfortable. "Something wrong?"

"No. Sir, it's just, unusual being served by a superior officer."

Yorren chuckled. "I'm not a usual officer. Plus you are a guest in my home. It would be discourteous not too." Yorren studded the orc for a moment. "What's your full name?" Gregor returned with two mugs of ale and set them between the two.

"Bogamul Gholob, sir."

"Ah, yes. I remember you now. You fought at the Battle of Whindhelm."

The orc visibly swelled with pride. "Yes sir! One of my first assignments. Killed fifteen men on my own."

Yorren smiled and nodded. He was one of the best at killing when he had to, but unlike most Nords he didn't revel in it. The two turned and looked as Serana descended down the stairs. She was wearing a short green and gold dress with a brown decorative corset. Yorren made a mental note to discuss what he meant by 'presentable', though he was sure she wore it just to needle him. Bogamul was starring with his mouth hanging open though Yorren couldn't tell if it was at Serana's cleavage, or her bright glowing orange eyes.

Yorren cleared his throat. "So my steward says you have an important message for me?"

Bogamul's face hardened. "It's the Emperor sir. He's been assassinated. In Solitude. "

Yorren was speechless. Even Serana was shocked at the news. "How?" He was finally able to ask, though he already suspected the answer and it not one he wanted to hear.

"The Dark Brotherhood." Yorren's stomach sank. He resisted the urge to vomit ask Bogamul handed him a letter. "For General Tullius. He wanted to inform you before word could travel this far out."

Yorren took the letter. "How long ago did this happen?" He asked as he opened it.

"Three days, sir."

"I'm impressed with your fortitude. It's normally a weeks ride to here from Solitude."

If Bogamul answered Yorren didn't notice. He was too transfixed on the letter. The emperor had indeed been assassinated on his own ship in the Solitude docks. General Tullius had ordered him to Solitude for a meeting and special assignment, but what it was the letter didn't say. Only to get there as fast as possible. He'd lead the assault on the Falkreath Sanctuary and none of the Dark Brotherhood had escaped. Commander Maro's men had made sure of that. Maro had told him that was the last sanctuary the Brotherhood had. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"Maro you stupid moronic fuck..." Yorren crumpled the letter and threw it in the hearth. "Gregor ready the horses. We'll be leaving for Whiterun in a few hours. All of us."

"Aye my Thane." He bowed and left for the stables.

"Sir?" Bogamul asked.

"It's my daughter. I'll head to Solitude once she's safely in the city." Bogamul nodded.

Serana leaned down. "I'll go wake her and tell her to pack," She then left the room leaving only Bogamul and Yorren.

The orc still looked confused so Yorren recounted the events with Astrid and the Dark Brotherhood. "You think that the Brotherhood will retaliate?" Bogamul asked.

Yorren simply nodded. "I must go get ready. I'll meet you outside at the stables when I am." Bogamul saluted and left out the same door Gregor had.

Yorren held his face in his hands, wanting this to be some horrible dream. After a few minutes he stood and walked back up to his room. He opened an armor chest and withdrew his Dragonbone Ebonsteel armor. He'd worked alongside Skyrim's greatest blacksmith Eorlund Gray-Mane to create the unique armor that was nearly as strong as the infamous Daedric armor. As he was putting it on Serana walked in and began to remove her clothes.

"Lucia seems excited to go to Whiterun. She's getting ready now."

"What did you tell her?"

"Not much. Just that we had to go to Solitude for some business for a while." She opened a chest on the other side of the bed that held her Royal Vampire armor and put it on. "I think it's cute when she calls Lydia auntie."

Yorren chuckled. "You know she hates it." Serana just smiled

He finished putting his armor on minus the helmet, and put on a crimson sash and cloak, both trimmed in gold and embroidered with the Imperial Dragon emblem. He placed his helmet, shield, two daggers, two one-handed swords, a greatsword, and a bow with forty arrows in a bag. Whatever mission Tullius had in mind for him, he was going to be prepared.

Serana looked into his eyes. She always said that in the right light his silver eyes glowed like her did. "We're going to get through this."

"I know."

Yorren and Serana came down the stairs again this time to an exited Lucia. Yorren envied her, but there was no reason to tell her real reason she was going back to Whiterun. The three of them walked outside and saw Gregor and Bogamul already mounted and ready to go. After loading their gear on the horses the five of them set out for the trip to Whiterun. Yorren took one final look at his self-named Frostborn Manor before heading off. He'd built it with Serana and Gregor after their last home Heljarchen Hall was burned down by bandits. No one had been hurt, but he put them to the sword no the less, and hung their bodies on pikes around the perimeter. He always said he'd rebuild it eventually, but he put it off since Serana and Lucia seemed happier where they were now.

The trip to Whiterun was shorter than he remembered it. They'd made it to the main gates before the sun had fully risen. Most of the guards happily greeted him with one of his many titles; Thane, Harbinger, Dragonborn, he heard them all and greeted them in kind. A few were noticeably weary of Serana as her glowing orange eyes were still visible from under her hood, but none said anything or made an attempt to stop them. Despite the early morning hour the trade capital of Skyrim was already bustling with activity. Normally he would have stopped to talk but he was in a rush. They soon arrived in front of Breezehome. Yorren knocked on the door and after a few minutes a tired looking Lydia dressing in a simple robe opened.

Before she could say anything Lucia ran and jumped hugged her. "Auntie Lydia!"

Lydia caught her with an 'oof' and rolled her eyes. After the two separated Lydia hugged both Yorren and Serana. "So what brings you all to Whiterun?"

"Can we talk about it inside?" Yorren asked. Lydia nodded as everyone shuffled in the small house. Yorren proceeded to tell Lydia about the emperor's assassination and his orders to report to Solitude.

"The Dark Brotherhood? I thought you wiped them out?"

"So did I, but I was wrong." He knew Lydia was about to say something and he held up his hand to stop her. "I need you to stay here and watch over Lucia while I'm gone. Between you, Gregor, and the Companions there isn't a safer place for her."

"I understand. Don't worry I'll keep her safe."

Yorren smiled and hugged her. "I know you will. I wish I could stay and catch up, but I have my orders."

Lucia came running out into the main room. "Well aren't you just a ball of energy today?" Lydia said. Lucia laughed. "Maybe later we'll go out to the market and you can play with Lars and Mila."

"That'd be great!" Lucia giggled.

"Alright come on. We should show your parents off."

With that the group returned outside the city gates. Both he and Serana hugged Lucia. "Now you behave and do what Lydia tells you. Alright?"

"I promise. Can I go and visit the Companions too?"

Yorren laughed. "If you behave."

She sighed. "Okay. I will."

"Keep the horses just in case anything anything happens." Yorren told Lydia.

"How are you getting to Solitude then? Carriages are notoriously slow."

Yorren smiled. "The fastest way I know how." He turned away from the group and took a deep breath. "**OD AH VIING!**"

In only a few minutes the unmistakable sound of a dragon's roar echoed around them, and the familiar red dragon appeared in the sky.

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**I'll try to update as often as I can, but I tend to have a hectic schedule so I can't make any promises. While I have some idea of what's going to happen in the story I don't have the ending planned yet. It'll be fun to see how the story plays itself out.**

**Next time: Yorren and Serana arrive in Solitude and are given a rather, unusual, assignment. Cheers everyone!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

It was midday when Yorren and Serana arrived at Solitude. Quaestor Gholob had elected to travel back on his own. Odahviing circled the city searching for a good landing spot, before finally deciding on landing between the outer guard wall and the main gate. A small crowd that had been gathered at the main gate fled when Odahviing finally did land, Yorren and Serana hopped off the dragon's neck.

"Thank you for the ride friend."

"Will you be in need of my ahmik again?"

"I'm not sure how long this will be. Why don't you find a few bandit camps and entertain yourself?"

The dragon chuckled. "Eh geh, tol dreh honaat ofanjiik. Then I bid you a short farewell Dovahkiin." With that the dragon flew off.

"Well you two sure do know how to make an entrance."

Yorren turned around and saw one of the last people he wanted to. Tribune Namia Valnnia had been a Stormcloak officer during the civil war, in fact her betrayal of them had been instrumental in turning the tides of the war. She'd given General Tullius the locations of dozens of camps and supply lines that had been sneaked behind Imperial lines. When the war was over Tullius gave her an honorary promotion. Yorren distrusted her enough because of her betrayal of the Stormcloaks, but what made him nervous about her were her reasons for doing so, or rather, her lack of reasons. Whenever anyone asked her about her change of allegiance she would only reply with, 'it's personal', or 'my reasons are my own'. That was fine for General Tullius and he supposed it should be good enough for him, since he'd almost joined them himself. But there was just something about her that Yorren could never quite figure out that just made him uneasy. He always seemed to wonder when she would betray them has she had the Stormcloaks.

"Tribune Valnnia." Yorren flatly greeted.

She mock saluted them. "Legate Frostborn, Lady Volkihar."

"I no longer use my family name." Serana said dryly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It suited you much better."

"Watch you tongue!" Yorren snapped.

Namia bowed her head. "Forgive me. The General as sent me to escort you to Castle Dour. If you'll follow me please."

"I'm quite sure I am capable of finding it myself."

"It's a security precaution. If you hadn't noticed, and being up on your dragon friend you probably didn't, the people of Solitude aren't exactly happy with the Empire right now. A little something to do with letting the Emperor die, perhaps?"

Between the smug look in her silver eyes and her blatant disrespectful tone, Yorren nearly punched her in the face. Serana put her hand on his shoulder. "Let it go."

Yorren sighed. "Alright. Let's go."

Namia let a smile slip for a second before turning around and walking to the main gate. Once the three had made it through Yorren quickly saw that she was right. He could see from the gate that a large crowd had gathered around Castle Dour. While he couldn't make out everything that they were saying, he could tell that they were very angry at the Imperial Legion. Several city and Imperial guards were managing to keep the crowd in line for now, but once tempers got flared it didn't take much for a riot to break out. Yorren hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Why don't I go to the Inn and get us a room." Serana asked. Yorren nodded. "Here, let me take your gear."

"Alright, just let me get something first." He set down the bag and pulled out his dragonbone greatsword.

"I hope you're not planning on using that?"

"It's just for show." Yorren smiled and kissed her before following Namia.

As the two made their way towards the crowd Namia attempted to get the crowd to part, but was having little effect. It was then that Yorren pushed her aside and shouted "MOVE!" A few citizens stopped and looked. It was one thing to be yelled at by guards, it was another to be yelled at by a man fully clad in dragon bones wielding a sword nearly as big as he was. Only then did one of them recognize him. "It's the dragonborn!" He yelled. Slowly others began to shout "Make way for the dragonborn!" It wasn't long before the crowd had split and Yorren and Namia were able to get to the castle.

"Thanks for that." One of the guards said as they walked through the door. "Alright everyone, go home!" Yorren saw the crowd slowly disperse as the doors to Castle Dour closed.

"That was impressive." Namia said.

Yorren saw she as being sincere, but only replied with "humph."

They entered the main meeting chamber, the room where the civil war had been planned. Yorren had a brief feeling of nostalgia as he looked over the map of Skyrim, now with a Red flag over each hold and fort. The feeling quickly faded as he saw Commander Maro sitting in the corner. His normally neatly trimmed anchor beard had become unkempt and mangy and he large dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and he likely hadn't. Maro looked up and gave Yorren a menacing glare. No doubt Maro blamed him thinking he hadn't killed them all. Before either could say anything General Tullius, followed by Legates Rikke and Caesennius entered. Yorren and Namia saluted them, as Maro slowly rose to do the same. Tullius nodded.

"At ease everyone." Maro slumped back down in his chair. "So I'm sure you all know why I called you here."

Maro snorted and stood. "Yeah." He point to Yorren. "Because HE couldn't do his job!"

"I did! Ask your men! Ask your men if even ONE person escaped! Just ONE! No one will tell that, since no one made it out of that sanctuary! All their bodies were accounted for! YOU had faulty information!"

"Do you know how much it cost me to even get the information that I had!? I cost me my damn son!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know... But that doesn't change the fact that your information was bad. And now my daughter is in danger too."

"Alright that's enough from both of you." General Tullius intervened. "We're not here to place blame."

"Sorry sir." Yorren said. Maro grumbled something under his breath.

"Do you really think that the Dark Brotherhood will retaliate against your family?" Tullius asked Yorren.

Maro answered. "Yes. Yes they would. They taunted me when they killed the Emperor."

"What happened?" Yorren asked.

Legate Caesennius handed Yorren a rolled up piece of paper. "A man handed this to the Commander while he was on the docks. We questioned him but he didn't know anything. Just that a woman in black robes and face mask paid him one hundred septims to deliver it."

Yorren read the note. It consisted of only a black hand print and the line, 'You're not very good at your job, are you?'

"Moving on." Tullius walked around the group. "The discussion we are about to have does not leave this room." He looked at everyone attending. "Do you understand?" The group nodded, except for Yorren who looked confused.

"I get the feeling I've been left out of an important conversation."

"We're informing you now. Back to my previous question. This stays between us. Understand?" Yorren nodded. "Good. Now, with the death of the Emperor the Empire has been crippled. The Thalmor have pulled all their dignitaries out of Skyrim. They haven't been on the best of terms with the Empire since Elenwen was assassinated. I believe they are preparing for an attack."

"Wouldn't the Emperor's son take the throne?" Yorren asked.

"The Emperor's son is not strong enough to rule. He's a pompous young boy who cares more for women and wine than for his responsibilities as a ruler."

"Then what about the Elder Council? Shouldn't they intervene if the Emperor is unfit?"

"That's where we have a problem. Legate Caesennius, would you mind filling him in?"

"We have reason to believe that the Elder Council arranged the assassination." Caesennius stated.

Yorren was shocked. The Elder Council was never very friendly to the Emperor, but assassinating one? That was unheard of. "Why do you think that?'

"Over a month ago Councilman Amaund Motierre left the Imperial City for Skyrim on what he claimed, personal business. After the Emperor was killed, Motierre was also found dead in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. He had a black hand print on his chest and below it the word 'Traitor' was carved into him body."

"An assassin with a conscience?"

Tullius continued the conversation. "So that brings us here. We have an Emperor unfit to rule, and an Elder Council consorting with assassins, essentially, we have an Empire without a leader." Yorren wasn't sure he like where this was going but he simply nodded along. "We've come up with a plan to amend that. We're going to install you as the Emperor."

"... Say that again. I must have misheard you."

Legate Rikke spoke now. "The Empire needs a strong leader, and it needs one now."

"Yes, but, why me?"

"You're the Dragonborn, to put it simply. Even though the Emperors don't formally use the Dragonborn title anymore, the dragon is still the symbol of the Empire. The people of Skyrim will support you, I'm sure of it and your deeds are was known throughout the Empire. The General holds quite a lot respect in the military and with them behind you, even the Elder Council will have to accept you."

"What of the Supreme Commander?"

"You mean the one that lost the Great War?"

Yorren didn't need to hear more to figure out the next part. Tullius would have him removed and take his place most likely. "You know we could all be executed for treason for this?"

"Let me be frank." Tullius interjected. "I swore an oath to defend the Emperor and his Empire. We all did. And now the Emperor is dead, and I don't intend to see the Empire die with him. I can't force you to accept this, but with a strong Emperor and an organized military we would be able to fight the Dominion when war finally does come. And trust me, it will come, sooner or later."

"It almost sounds like you want to install me as a puppet ruler so you can have your war unfettered."

"Excuse me, General?" Namia spoke up. "May I have a word with the Legate alone?" Tullius nodded and motioned for everyone to leave.

"You were awfully quite. What do you want to say that can't be said in front of them?" Yorren asked once the two were alone.

"This was my idea you know."

"What!?"

"Look, I know how you feel about and trust me, I don't blame you. And I haven't exactly been as respectful as I should have been but... Skyrim is still a broken land, and without her the Empire will fall apart. Not only would having a Nord Emperor unite Skyrim again, but having the Dragonborn himself as the Emperor would restore the very heart and soul of the Empire itself."

"Why did you betray the Stormcloaks?"

"When the time is right, I promise I'll tell you, but not now."

She was being the most sincere with him than she'd ever been. "Alright. I'll do it. What's the plan?"

"General Tullius has been working on that, not me." Namia knocked on the door the rest had gone through and shortly everyone had filled back in. "He agreed."

"Good." Tullius said. "Now as to getting us in. This is going to have done in secret and I have no doubt that the Thalmor are going to be watching all the main roads in Cyrodiil so traveling by land isn't an option. We'll have to go by boat."

"Boat? That would take almost a month. And we'd have to sail around Morrowind or we'd be going right though Dominion territory." Yorren said.

"I know. But we don't have any other option, that's why we need to move quickly. I've commissioned four trading barges, each one will be commanded by you, myself, Legate Rikke, and Tribune Valnnia respectively. Each will have around a hundred Legionnaires. I don't expect we'll need much more. There shouldn't be much resistance getting into the city."

The plan didn't sit well with Yorren and he was surprised that Tullius was able to arrange it in such short time, but the General was nothing if not efficient. "Alright, but about my daughter? I'm not all that comfortable being away for that long of a time if the Dark Brotherhood is still lurking about."

"I'll send a detachment to protect her. Is that sufficient?"

"Yes. Thank you. She's staying in Whiterun. I'm the Jarl's Thane, let me send him a letter so he understands why they're there." Tullius nodded. "When do we leave?"

"Once everything's ready. Hopefully within the next few days."

"I have one more request General."

"Alright what is it?"

"Permission to bring my wife. She is a powerful spellcaster and skilled infiltrator."

"The vampire?" Yorren was surprised. He wasn't expecting him know about Serana. "It's not like you've tried keep it a secret."

"You disapprove?"

"Who you chose to share your bed with is none of my concern... Yes, fine bring her. But if she kills any of my Legionnaires, I'll have her head."

"Thank you sir." He ignored Tullius' comment. It was just posturing. Yorren doubted that even if Serana did kill one of his men that the General would lay a hand on her.

* * *

"This is insane!" Serana shouted pacing across the room.

"I don't much like it either." Yorren said trying to pacify her while he dressed into a simple tunic.

She slumped down on the bed in their rented room and sighed. "I don't know it... Maybe I'm just being paranoid but it doesn't feel right."

"You think it's a trap?"

"Not exactly... I mean, even if the Thalmor are watching the boarders, you could be at the Imperial City in half the time if you just walked there."

"Yes but that would give the Thalmor time to mount an attack before we're ready."

"What if they see through your trick? What then?"

He hadn't thought of asking that in the discussion earlier. "You have a point. I'll bring it up to the General." She was still uncomfortable at the idea. "Look, I'm not thrilled about all this either. I can tell Tullius that I'm out."

"No don't. He's right. This needs to be done. I just wish there was another way to do it."

Yorren smiled. "You think I'm suited to be Emperor"

Serana stood and kissed him. "Oh of course not. I'm thinking about me." She spoke in a fake high class accent. "Why, I'm the daughter of royalty. Nothing but the most powerful man in all of Tamriel is good enough for me."

"Oh you little bitch."

He tackled her to bed and the two laughed like children. The laughing soon turned to kissing as Serana began to untie Yorren's tunic.

"I just put that on you know."

She smirked. "But I like you so much better without it."

He smiled and kissed her again and began to remove her clothes as she was removing his.

* * *

General Tullius was nothing if not efficient, Yorren often found himself thinking. In six days time Tullius had been able to assemble nearly five hundred men from nearly every hold in Skyrim. Just enough from each that they wouldn't be missed, and each group had taken a different route in case any unfriendly eyes had been watching. Yorren watched as the last men boarded onto his ship, if you could call it a ship. The trade barges Tullius had found looked more like awkward floating boxes with sails than a proper boat.

Yorren sat in the main hold looking over the troops. Most of them were Imperials and Nords, but he spotted a few Orcs, Bretons, and Khajiit. Not many elves were enlisted in the military these days. Quaestor Gholob sat with the other Orcs drinking and sharing stories of their battles. He had volunteered to be in Yorren's unit once he'd arrived in Solitude.

Yorren decided to go above deck. Even though they'd been at sea for only an hour he already felt his stomach lurching. He already knew what Serana would say if she saw him like this. Something to the effect of 'the mighty dragonborn, beaten by a little old boat?'. He smiled to himself losing himself in his thoughts until the ship jolted violently. Has he got back up on his feet the ship jolted again. He made his way to the one-eyed Captain Hrjast, who was fighting to keep the wheel straight.

The wind began howling violently almost drowning out his voice. "Is this normal!?"

"No!" Captain shouted back. "I've never seen it pick up like this before!"

Serana came running up to him. "What in Oblivion is going on?"

Before Yorren could answer her a thick fog began to envelop them. "**LOK VAK KOOR**!" He shouted at the fog. It cleared, but to his surprise reformed around them mere moments later. "Magic." As if to punctuate his statement lightning began to arc within the cloud of fog. He shouted again clearing the sky for a few seconds. "It's a magic storm!" He was able to yell to Serana before the wind picked up even harder than it had been before.

He saw several bright flashes off to the side and made his over to see a bright orange and red glow through the fog. One the other ships was on fire. A small bolt hit one of the rigging lines on his ship, severing it and setting it on fire. Yorren cast an ice spell on it to stop the blaze and ran over to it. "Help me with this!" He yelled to Serana as he tried to grab the lose end. Several lightning bolts hit the water just next to his ship causing it to lurch to the side. Yorren and Serana were sent rolling across the deck, smashing into the railing on the opposite side. The ship began lurching and turning in every direction. Yorren looked at the ship wheel to find it unmanned. Captain Hrjast had been thrown overboard. Yorren ran to the wheel. He didn't know how to steer a ship, but figured he could at least keep it going straight. He never made it to the wheel. He felt a searing heat cut through his body accompanied by a blinding light brighter than any he'd seen before. For a brief moment he thought he was flying before the world around him went black and silent.

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**We're finally getting GoT territory now. Thanks everyone for reading. I never expected so many views in the short time this has been posted.**

**Next time: The survivors of the storm make a crash landing in a strange new world.**


	3. Chapter 3

He thought he heard someone talking to him but he couldn't understand a word of it. That damned boat rocking was starting to get him sick again, once he'd noticed it. "Wwooayy jjorr hooou gghhearrr..." That damned gibberish. He tried to yell to shut up at whoever it was but he couldn't, then he realized that his vision was completely black. "Wwwaack ooupp..." "Shut up!" He screamed in his head, but no sound came. He felt a sharp sting across his face. He saw a bright light for a brief second before blurry shapes began to form.

Tribune Valnnia's face materialized before him. "Are you awake?"

Yorren groaned. "Why are you on my ship?" He finally got out.

"Good, you're still alive. What's the last thing you remember?"

He groaned again. "I was on deck. The captain had been thrown overboard. I was running. Then... I don't know." He tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain throughout his body.

Namia put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down. "Easy. Don't try to get up."

"That storm... It was magic..."

"We know. It was a Thalmor trap."

"Serana... Where is she?"

Namia motioned behind her. Serana was slumped on top of a stack of boxes snoring steadily from beneath a bear pelt.

"She hasn't left your side since we fished you out of the water."

It was only then did Yorren become fully aware of his surroundings. He was laying on the floor under several animal pelts and a plume of frost left his mouth with each breath. Throwing the pelts off he looked down at his body and saw his chest, arms and legs were wrapped in bandages. The parts of his body that weren't bandaged were covered in intricate scars reminiscent of tree branches. "What happened?"

"You were struck by lightning, your ship was destroyed, and you were thrown into the water. We thought you were dead. When we finally found you, Priestess Thealas pulled nearly a hundred pieces of shrapnel out of you. By all rights you should be dead."

Yorren sighed. "How many people made it off my ship?"

"Not many. Maybe a couple dozen."

He struggled to get up again, only for Namia to hold him down. "I need to speak to General Tullius and Legate Rikke."

Namia's face darkened. "We lost track of the General's ship in the storm. We never saw it make it out."

"And Rikke's?"

"Burned down. No one made it off."

"Gods damn it all." Yorren forced himself up, ignoring the pain and Namia's attempts to stop him. "How long have I been out?"

"A little over three weeks."

"That must be why I'm so damned stiff everywhere." Namia laughed to herself. "Where are we?"

Her smile vanished. "After we made it out of the storm, we were ambushed by the Thalmor. Once we were done with them the captain tried to get our bearings but... we don't know where we are."

Yorren punched the floor. "Gods damn it all!" He shouted.

Serana groaned and stirred. "Yorren!" She jumped from her box and tackled him with a hug. "Don't you ever do that to me again you hear!" She started crying on his shoulder as he returned her hug. "If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself. You understand."

"I love you too." When they separated Yorren noticed that she was looking thinner than usual. "Have you been eating?" She shook her head.

Namia spoke before Yorren could say something. "We do have a Thalmor prisoner on board."

Yorren and Serana both knew what she was insinuating. "Have you questioned him?" Yorren asked.

"We have but he's been resilient to the… usual methods of questioning. Perhaps Serana can be more effective."

"You tortured him?"

"Well asking nicely didn't work too well..."

He looked at Serana who nodded. "Alright. Help me up so we can deal with him."

Serana helped Yorren stand and allowed him to lean on her as they traversed the ship. The overall mood of the soldiers, he saw, was gloomy and desperate. He couldn't blame them.

When they arrived at the room the prisoner was in; they found Priestess Sorosi Thealas standing in front of the door. The Dunmer smiled when she saw Yorren. "It's good to see you finally up and about." She noticed Namia standing next to him and scowled. "The prisoner is still recovering from your last, 'session'."

"Priestess, I must ask you to stand aside." Yorren said. "He won't be needing you anymore."

She was visibly displeased and disturbed, but offered no objection. As the three made their way past her, she spoke. "Legate?" They stopped. "Just please try to make it quick..." She walked away.

The Thalmor prisoner had his arms cuffed and chained to the ceiling, while each one of his legs was chained to a wall. His body was covered from head to toe in scars, bruises, and burns. Without lifting his head he muttered, "Back for another round, bitch?" When he did finally look up, Yorren could see in his eyes that he was close to breaking. When he looked at Namia she had a wicked grin. Under normal circumstances he would be bothered, but the Thalmor weren't deserving of mercy.

"Yes I'm back, but no, you won't be dealing with me today." The prisoner spat. Namia motioned behind her. "Let me introduce you to Serana."

Serana walked passed Namia and licked one of her fangs, smiling wickedly. The prisoner's demeanor quickly changed to one of terror as he began thrashing against his chains. Serana walked up to him and held him down. The prisoner screamed as she bit into his neck and started to drink. After a moment she released him, with the holes closing as she withdrew her fangs.

"You don't taste half bad, but I've had better." She whispered seductively in his ear. She intentionally let some of his blood drip down her chin.

Yorren limped over to where they were sitting. "Now. Are you ready to talk, or, do we have to let her turn you?" Serana hissed at the prisoner. He thrashed against his chains trying in vain to escape. Yorren signed. "Serana..."

She lunged at the prisoner, when she was mere inches from his face he screamed. "ALRIGHT!"

"What was that?"

"I'll talk! I'll talk... I'll tell you what I know."

"Good. Now, how did you know of our movements?"

"It was one yours!"

"I can smell it when you lie." Serana said inches from his face.

"I'm not lying! It was a high ranking Imperial Officer!"

"What's their name?" Yorren asked.

"I don't know..."

"Well what were they? Man? Woman? Nord? Imperial? Khajiit? Young? Old? What?"

"Older Male Imperial. That's all I know."

"How did you conjure a storm that powerful?"

"They were testing a new weapon."

"Who? What weapon?"

"The High Magi's Council."

"What weapon? Don't make me ask again!"

"I don't know!" Serana bore her fangs and hissed. "ALL I KNOW ARE RUMORS I SWEAR!" The prisoner was sweating and panting heavily.

"Well?"

"It's a staff. It's supposed to be able to level entire cities. They say it was made with the very souls of the members of the last Magi Council."

Yorren and Namia exchanged looks. "What happened to the fourth ship?"

"What fourth ship?"

Yorren grabbed the prisoner by the neck. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not! My orders only involved the three ships! I swear! No one said anything about a fourth! I'm just a soldier! I don't know anything else! I swear!"

Yorren released him. "I believe you." The prisoner sighed in relief. "Serana kill him."

"WHAT! NO! YOU PROMISED!"

"I did no such thing. I said she wouldn't turn you into a vampire, not that you'd live."

The elf was in shock. "Don't worry." Serana said as she ran her fingers over his neck. "I won't eat you all at once. A girl's got to maintain her figure you know." The prisoner thrashed against his chains again. "Hang him from the ceiling."

Yorren went outside and motioned for some soldiers to come in. He relayed her orders to them. The prisoner fought against the guards as they tried to undo his chains. Namia summoned a ball of swirling greenish yellow energy in her hand and fired it at the prisoner. When it hit him, his body failed him and went completely stiff. The soldiers bound his feet together and his hands behind his back. They lifted him upside down and hung him from a meat hook. Yorren motioned for them to leave the room.

Once they'd cleared out, Serana picked up a large bucket that had been sitting by several other torture implements and placed it on the floor under his head. She drew the dagger she wore at her hip and pressed it against the prisoner's neck.

"P... please..." he cried. He flailed in a way reminiscent of a fish that had just been caught.

Serana gently ran her knife across his throat, just enough to draw a small line of blood. He winced. "Oh come now." Serana said playfully, "I get worse in the bedroom." She licked up the line of blood that had trickled out of the cut before pressing her knife against the side of his neck. With a quick slash Serana opened an artery and blood spray covered her face. The prisoner squirmed as his own blood gushed out of his neck, down his face, and into the bucket on the floor. Serana grabbed his head and returned her knife to the wound and cut towards the other side. The prisoner tried to speak but only more blood and unintelligible garble came out as she sliced through his windpipe. When she severed the artery on the opposite side of his neck the blood simply drained rather than violently gushing like the first. Serana licked her knife clean before placing it back in its sheath. When the blood stopped draining she moved the bucket out from under him and undid the chains holding his feet to the ceiling. He landed on his head with an audible crack and his head twisted in a sickening angle. A portion of his spine was protruding from the back of his throat and his head was being held on by only the muscles and skin on the back of his neck.

Yorren called the soldiers back in. "Throw the body in the ocean."

"Yes sir." They dragged the dead prisoner out of the room.

"So?" Namia asked. "Do you believe what he said about their weapon?"

"That they have it? Yes. That it's powered by the souls of mages? No, not really. The real question is how did the Thalmor get their hands on it?" Yorren replied.

"What about General Tullius? It seems awfully suspicious that his ship wasn't in their attack orders." Serana said.

"Do you think he betrayed us?"

"It certainly seems like it." Namia replied.

* * *

After three uneventful weeks on sea they finally saw land on the horizon. When they attempted to approach the shore, the unusually rocky coastal waters proved too much for the ship and it was damaged beyond repair. They decided to savage the derelict ship and construct a camp. Two weeks later several tents, buildings, and even makeshift walls, towers, and spiked barricades had been erected. Yorren gazed across the land. They were mostly surrounded by grasslands with a small forest to the west, but no towns or villages were in sight. He'd sent parties to scout the surrounding lands but they came back with nothing of interest. As the sun had just finished setting he made his way back to his and Serana's tent. He'd noted that the food they were able to recover from the wrecked ship was close to running out. They'd constructed a fishing raft but no one had been successful at finding a decent spot to fish at.

When he walked into his tent, he saw Serana sitting on their bed wearing a simple robe. When she saw Yorren she sprawled out on the bed and allowed the robe to fall open revealing her naked body. Yorren climbed on top of her and kissed her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and slowly kissed down his neck to his shoulder. Yorren bit her neck causing her to shudder. As she was starting to undress him Serana jolted and stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Yorren asked.

"Listen. You hear that?"

A moment later the unmistakable sound of horses charging reached his ears, followed by yelling and the clashing of steel. Yorren jumped to his feet and grabbed his greatsword he'd left sitting by the bed. "Throw some armor on!"

"No I'm going to go fight naked!" Serana yelled as Yorren left the tent.

In the center of camp Yorren saw a wall of horses mounted by riders clad in dark grey armor, flying a banner with what looked to be a red man sprawled out upside down over a white X. A few riders were thrown off their horses by lightning attacks but in the confusion they were cutting through his men like butter. "FUS RO DAH!" As he shouted a shock wave ripped through the horsemen throwing them backward as if they weighed nothing. The Imperial soldiers took the advantage and retaliated swiftly. Yorren charged with them. He ran to one of the men as he was beginning to stand and with a swing of his greatsword, severed the man's head. Most of the attackers were on their feet again starting to lose ground. A lightning bolt sped past Yorren's head and struck six men, sending them flying backwards. He turned and saw Namia with another chain lightning spell charged before she released it into the attackers again. Yorren heard someone running towards him and turned to parry the man's swing. The attacker swung again at Yorren's shoulder, which Yorren deflected before quickly changing his swing to cut through the man's abdomen. Another man charged him only for Yorren to hit him in the face with the pommel of his sword. As the man fell to the ground Yorren drove his sword through the man's chest.

He heard galloping rushing towards him and raised his sword to swing at the horse. His blade made contact but he was thrown backwards and his sword went flying. He got to his feet as another man reached and swung wildly at him. Yorren dodged the attacks and grabbed the man's sword arm. He kneed the man in the crotch and wrenched the sword from him before stabbing the man in the chest. Yorren saw a group of six more charging him. His face was spotted in blood and he could feel the adrenalin coursing through him. He'd forgotten what the thrill of battle felt like. "Come at me you milk drinking bastards!" He smiled as he shouted "MUL QAH DIIV!" The shock wave doubled back onto him forming into glowing orange full body armor with a tail and large wings on his back. While his dragon aspect form didn't allow him to fly he could jump far greater distances, run faster, and possess greater strength than any mortal man, mer, or beast. While his armor was ethereal it was stronger than steel, as one of the more unfortunate of his attackers found out when Yorren parried the attack with his wrist. He punched the man with his other hand and sent him flying backwards. The others charged again after the shock of seeing Yorren encase himself in dragon armor. He punched another in the face hard enough that Yorren thought he heard the man's neck snap.

He jumped over the rest and ran to his greatsword. Picking it up he charged the men and brought his sword down into one of their heads, cutting down into his chest. Yorren pulled his sword out and stabbed into the next man's chest lifting him off the ground, and cutting out through his shoulder before the man had even finished falling. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" He shouted at the other two. They fell to the ground screaming as the fireball melted their flesh. He saw a dozen or so of the attackers jump on their horses and flee the camp, the rest were either surrendering or being put to sword or spell. It was then that he realized that Serana was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.

* * *

Serana had decided for the sake of haste, that she would forgo wearing the red leather tunic of her royal vampire armor and instead only wear the steel reinforced chest piece. As she was buckling the belt that held the chest piece in place she heard someone enter the tent. She spun around and saw four men with swords staring at her.

"Well looky what we've got here boys." One of them said with an especially hungry look.

Serana's chest piece hadn't been secured yet and her breasts were partially exposed. She had no doubt the men were staring at them. She slowly backed up to where her father's sword was sitting. When she and Yorren killed her father, Lord Harkon, she'd claimed it since its enchantments only worked for a vampire. When she picked up the katana it glowed a deep red. "Turn around and leave." She said making sure to show her fangs.

All but one them laughed. "I don't think this is a good idea Ramsay..." The fourth said.

The hungry looking one turned to his comrade, "If you're scared of the woman then we won't let you have a turn with her." Ramsay looked at Serana with a disgusting smile, "At least not while she's still alive we won't." The man gave in and started walking towards her with the rest.

"You should listen to your friend." Serana said. "He's the only one of you thinking with his head and not his cock."

One of them spat on the ground before the four ran for her. She charged an ice spike in her off hand. Serana drove her sword through the first man's chest and threw the ice spike at the second, hitting him between the eyes and sending him backwards. The one who'd been afraid of her swung his sword, which she dodged before driving hers between his neck and shoulder. In the fighting Ramsay had sneaked behind and slammed into Serana, knocking her sword from her. Ramsay put a knife to her throat.

"Make one move and I'll cut you." He hissed in her ear while he reached under her chest plate and fondled her breast. Serana stood perfectly still. "Good." He removed his hand from her chest and began undoing his pants. "I'm going to enjoy this." He licked her neck.

Serana almost vomited. "No. You won't." She kicked his leg out from under him and felt his knife cut her throat open as he fell. She looked down as blood dripped from her throat onto her chest and almost laughed, but otherwise ignored it. She turned and grabbed Ramsay's knife hand as he was getting up then twisted it. His arm cracked and he screamed. With her other hand she grabbed him by his neck and lifted him into the air. His face was twisted in pain and fear. She bore her fangs and hissed inches from his face. He grabbed her arm with both hands as best he could in an attempt to get her to release him, but she only squeezed his throat harder.

He tried to speak, but could only gag. Before long his face started to turn a shade of blue. Serana threw him into a shelf and it shattered at his impact and fell on top of him. As he tried to crawl out she rested the tip of her sword against the underside of his jaw. "Move and I drive this into your fucking skull."

Yorren ran into their tent in his dragon aspect form. "Are you alright?" He asked looking at the three dead bodies.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Serana removed her sword from Ramsay's throat. "What should we do with him?"

"I'll put him with the other prisoners." Yorren grabbed Ramsay by the arm and dragged him out of the tent.

Serana smiled and bore her fangs at Ramsay as Yorren dragged him past her. "Maybe I'll eat you later." She hissed. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw the look on his face.

* * *

**Build up time is over. We're now in full swing.**

**Next time: The North responds to Ramsay's defeat. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this one took longer than the rest to get out, but I tend to have a hard time writing the slower paced chapters. Enjoy! : )**

* * *

Eddard Stark sat in the great hall in Winterfell listening to a Bolton soldier recite what Maester Luwin had referred to as a 'colorful' tale.

"I swear m'lords! I saw it! That man turned into a dragon!"

"That's enough." The normally calm Lord Roose Bolton snapped. "We will hear no more of these gross exaggerations."

"Now don't be so hard on the lad." Maester Luwin said. "I'm sure the boy believes what he says." He turned to face the boy. "The light can play tricks on the eyes. Especially in the heat of battle and when there's been a little too much ale or wine drank beforehand perhaps?"

"I wasn't drunk!" The boy yelled.

"That's enough!" Lord Bolton yelled.

The boy cowered. "Yes m'lord."

Ned looked at the members of his house gathered. He could tell that they were all thinking relatively the same thing, the boy was insanely drunk, mad, or both. At the end of the table he saw his ward, Theon laughing. Ned expected him to say something rude or stupid, but fortunately he had the sense to keep his insult to himself.

Lord Bolton finally spoke, "Despite the boy's greatly exaggerated stories, these wildlings do pose a great threat to us. One hundred fifty seven of my men attacked their camp, and only twenty three made it back."

"How many did you say there were?" Ned asked the boy.

"I don't know… Maybe about two to three hundred m'lord."

"Are you sure they were wildlings?"

"Well what else could they been m'lord?"

"Have you ever seen a wildling camp before?"

"No m'lord…"

That was not the answer Ned had hoped for, but the one he expected.

Lord Bolton spoke before Ned could. "You don't believe that they were wildlings Lord Stark?"

"It's not that I don't. But I do have doubts about the wildings' ability to not only sneak a force that large over the wall but manage to get as far into Northern lands as they did." He kept the part about the wildlings being unlikely to repel any kind of coordinated military attack to himself. If they really were wildlings, then Lord Bolton's military strength was sorely lacking.

"Since your brother is in the Night's Watch, you of all people here should know how dangerous the wildlings are."

"Aye, I do. I know how the wildlings act, and this doesn't match."

"So you intend to do nothing then?"

"I never said that. You want men? Fine, you'll have them. But I will lead them."

Lord Bolton nodded. "As my Lord wishes. I can have four hundred men ready to march two days after I return to the Dreadfort."

"And I will five hundred ready by that time. Is that suitable Lord Bolton?"

"Yes my Lord, and many thanks." Lord Bolton bowed and his solider left.

When the two were gone Ned turned to Maester Luwin. "Send a raven to Castle Black. Tell them what happened and ask if they can send a man immediately."

"Yes my Lord." The old man bowed and left.

"Father?" Ned's eldest son Robb asked. "You don't think these are wildings do you?"

"I don't know what to think. But a Night's Watch Brother will for sure. I just hope Lord Bolton is right and not about to drag us into a war."

* * *

"Benjen!"

"Ned!" The two brothers hugged as Benjen Stark approached Ned's army of nine hundred. "We got a raven saying you had wildling problems, so they sent me."

"Their camp is over the hill." The two men rode past the army and over the hill they had gathered at. Lord Bolton was waiting for them at the top. The camp could be seen a mere few hundred yards away.

Benjen turned to Lord Bolton, "You sure that's it?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"That's no wildling camp."

"Are you calling my men liars?"

"No, I'm calling them stupid."

Lord Bolton turned and faced Benjen, "You'd best remember who you're talking to."

"I'm the best the Nights Watch has at killin' wildlings. I've seen every kind of camp they've built. That ain't one of them. They look like military men."

Ned sighed. "Alright I want to know who they are." He turned to the army, "Hold position here until I say otherwise."

He motioned for his brother and Lord Bolton to follow him. As the three approached the camp, Ned watched as ten archers sprang up from behind the palisade wall with arrows notched.

"Come no further or you will be fired upon!" One of the archers yelled. Ned held up his hand for the three to stop. The archer yelled again. "Speak your name and your reasons for coming here!"

Ned couldn't tell for certain from that distance but he could have sworn the man speaking had green skin. "I am Eddard Stark, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North. I would speak to your leader." He yelled back.

"If you come to demand surrender then the Legate has nothing to speak with you about!"

"I come making no demands. I only wish to parley."

The archer spoke to a man next to him, who then ran off. After a few minutes the man returned. The archer yelled again. "You may approach, alone, and unarmed."

Ned dismounted his horse and handed his greatsword Ice to Benjen. "This is a mistake." Lord Bolton said.

"Your men got us into this. I'm trying to get us out without further bloodshed."

"Don't forget that they killed or captured one hundred thirty four of my men."

"I'll do whatever I can to get them to release any prisoners."

He walked off towards the camp. As he walked; a man walked out from behind the spike barricade. The man wore armor that looked to be made of bones with a red sash draped over. What made Ned nervous however was the greatsword the man was carrying. He looked behind and all eyes were on him. His men looked as though they were ready to charge the camp at a second's notice. As the man walked closer Ned could make out his face. The man looked like a Northerner. He was tall and broad shouldered, with strong muscle tone. His hair was a long and scraggly dark grey, that fell to his shoulders. His face was heavily scarred (most looked to be years old) but some looked relatively fresh. The thing about the man's face that was most unnerving to Ned however was his eyes. They were an unnatural silver that seemed to glow when the light hit them.

The two stopped when they were mere feet away from each other. "I came to parley honorably. Why have you brought a weapon?"

The man laughed. "Your people must have a different definition of honor than mine."

"How so?"

"You have impressive titles Lord Stark. You command this... North, correct?"

"In a way. Yes."

"Tell me then. You order your men to ambush my camp in the dead of night with no warning or provocation and slaughter my men. Then when that fails you return with an army. What part of that sounds honorable to you?"

"I assure you I had no knowledge of the attack when it happened. I would never issue such an order."

The man looked over Ned's shoulder and smirked. "Alright. You want to talk, let's talk."

"You're still armed. How do I know you won't try to kill me?"

He laughed. "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing. But, fine."

Ned was expecting the man to drop his sword, however instead he held it out for Ned to take. The man had to be either overly confident or stupid to hand his weapon over like that. Ned examined the weapon. The blade was made from bone wedged into the main body. He expected a weapon to that was made from bone to be crude, but this however looked as if it had been made by a master craftsman. It had an unexplainable elegance to it and it felt like he knew far more about swordsmanship then he did just by holding it.

"Now shall we talk?" Ned nodded. "I am Legate Yorren Frostborn of the Imperial Legion."

"Why have you come to our shores Legate?"

"Unintentionally. We mean you and your people no harm. We were on a mission to Cyrodiil when we were ambushed and thrown off course. We were adrift at sea for several weeks before we wound up here. But I have no doubt that you would rather talk about the attack on my men, or our prisoners."

"Straight to the point then?"

"Aye. Now, you've heard my side. If you didn't order the attack who did? I can see their banners in your ranks. It still seems to me like they are under your command."

"When I spoke with Lord Bolton he told me that no one had ordered it. His bastard son acted on his own accord in response to what he thought was a wildling threat."

Yorren laughed. "Does this Lord Bolton's bastard son happen to be named Ramsay?"

"Yes. Is he one of your prisoners?"

"He's lucky he is. He tried to rape my wife during the attack."

"Is she alright?"

"She nearly killed the boy. I'd be more worried about him."

Ned wasn't sure if Yorren was exaggerating. He'd hear the stories of Ramsay's cruelty, although no one had been able to prove the rumors true. While he doubted Yorren's wife's ability to kill Ramsay, Yorren looked dead serious as he said it.

"Now," Yorren continued, "I'm sure you want to get the prisoners back."

"Aye, I do. But I'm sure you aren't willing to just hand them over."

Yorren smiled. "They were the aggressors, and no, I'm not willing to hand them over for nothing. Normally I would not be willing to trade them at all, but… We are not in an ideal situation."

"What do you want?"

"First, I want you to send your army home. I will not negotiate a peace when my men are in direct danger."

"Surly you don't expect me to just send all my men away and leave me your prisoner."

"Why would I hand a prisoner my sword? Fine keep two hundred of them, but NOT any of the Boltons."

"I'll have to discuss this with my commanders."

"Of course. And I'm sure they will tell you it's a stupid idea."

Ned couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I'm sure that they will." He handed Yorren his sword back and left.

* * *

Lord Bolton was unsurprisingly displeased with the agreement but relented with the promise of having his prisoners freed. Once the Boltons and the rest of the seven hundred men had ridden off Ned returned to see Yorren walking out laughing.

"What's so funny."

"You. I didn't think you'd actually send your men away like that."

"I'm a man of my word. I expect that you be one as well."

Yorren nodded. "I can respect that. I'll be honest with you. We are far from home, we don't know where we are. We have no ships, no gold, and we are almost out of food and water. We need these and we keep the Bolton's horses. We have eighty three prisoners. If you are willing to trade us the supplies we need, their lives are yours."

Ned thought about Yorren's proposal. "How many men are in your camp?"

Yorren looked thrown off by the question, as if he was unsure whether to take it as a threat or not. "One hundred eighty five. We lost about thirty in the attack. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to make you a counter offer." Yorren said nothing. "I can't offer you gold or ships, but instead of trading good to you I can offer you the hospitality of Winterfell. Serve in my household and you can have all the supplies you and your men require. I swear on my honor and by the laws of gods and men that no harm will come to any of you while under my roof."

"You speak as though we intend to stay in this land forever. I assure you we don't."

"Then only for as long as you stay."

Yorren nodded. "And if I refuse your generous offer?"

"Then I will arrange for your goods to be traded."

"And would serving in your household entail? We're soldiers, not maids and cooks."

"You'll be what you're best at."

Yorren smirked. "That's a non answer. But I have one more question. Why make this offer? And be honest, on your honor."

Ned smirked. "On my honor. Alright. It's mostly so that I can keep an eye on you. There's no better way to know someone than having them under your roof."

Yorren laughed. "I like you Lord Stark. Alright, I accept your offer." He held out his hand and Ned shook it. "I'll go inform my men."

Yorren turned to walk back to his camp. "I do have a question for you." Ned said. Yorren stopped. "Your armor and sword, what are they made from?"

Yorren got a curious look on his face before smiling. "Dragonbones."

* * *

**Next time: The King pays a visit.**


	5. Chapter 5

**This one's going to be longer than the previous chapters. Hope you guys don't mind.**

* * *

Serana sat in the Winterfell courtyard watching Ned Stark's second youngest son Bran practice archery. While she was no archer herself, she could easily tell that the boy needed far more practice. She was able to stifle her laugh, unlike his brothers , when he missed the target for the third time in a row. She couldn't help but laugh at Rob and Jon when Ned chastised them for laughing at Bran. It was only when an arrow flew past Bran into the target his was aiming at that Serana noticed that Arya was no longer sitting next her. Arya stuck out her tongue out at Bran, who then chased her. Serana laughed then sighed. She thought about Lucia back in Whiterun. Yorren had adopted the girl a year before he'd freed Serana from the crypt her mother had stuck her in. Though Lucia was nervous about her at first, she eventually grew to love Serana like her mother and Serana loved her like a daughter. More so because Serana knew that Lucia would likely be the closest she would ever get to being a mother; the odds of her still being able to have a child if she were cured of vampirism were slim.

Despite that these people had never heard of a vampire most could still tell that she wasn't quite human. She was used to the odd and nervous looks people gave her as she walked by, but unlike most people here Arya seemed to be drawn to her. Arya wasn't anything like her sister Sansa, or the other women in Winterfell and the two of them had grown close over the three months they'd been in Winterfell. Serana thought that Arya would fit right in in Skyrim. She nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"See something interesting?" Yorren asked as he sat down next to her.

"No, why?"

"You've been staring that the wall for nearly ten minutes."

She blushed. "Oh… I was lost in thought. So did you finish rummaging through their library?"

"Mostly. Westeros' history is quite interesting, especially what I read about the Targaryens." Serana got a curious look. "It's said that they rode dragons into battle."

"Do you think they were dragonborn like you?"

"It's possible, but they were wiped out in a civil war not too long ago." He looked disappointed so Serana grabbed his hand. He smiled. "But that's not what I came to talk about."

"Oh, what then?"

"Lord Stark has invited us to an execution."

She rolled her eyes. "How riveting."

"Well apparently it's a big deal around here. They found a deserter from the Wall. I know you wanted to meet some of them, though this isn't the ideal situation."

"I thought women don't normally get involved in these sorts of things here."

"Well you're no normal woman are you?"

She smiled and kissed him. "No. I guess I'm not.

* * *

Serana watched as two Winterfell guards dragged the deserter along. He had to be no more than twenty and had a thin, scraggly look to him. As he passed he muttered something about the 'White Walkers' over and over again. The guards eventually let him to a rock with a grove cut into it.

"I know I broke my oath. I know I'm a deserter. I should have gone back to the Wall and warned them but… I saw what I saw… I saw the White Walkers…" He said as Ned stood over him.

Yorren tapped her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He whispered.

"Why do you ask?"

"You look pale. Well, paler than normal. You ever heard of a White Walker?"

"No. You see anything about them in your books?"

"Only stories. Not much else."

Out of the corner of her eye Serana saw the glint of steel and looked up just in time to Ned's greatsword slicing through the boy's head. Serana scoffed. "Well that was anticlimactic…" Yorren rolled his eyes and walked off. Something about these White Walkers made her uneasy, but she wouldn't have thought anything else of them until she overheard Ned talking with Bran about them, specifically when he said they'd been gone for thousands of years. "So were the dragons…"

* * *

It had taken Serana three days to find a book that even mentioned White Walkers, and it was a children's story book. She'd nearly given up on her searching until several volumes of 'A Treatise on the Long Night' had turned up while preparing Winterfell for the king's arrival.

The books were not written by the same authors, and contradicted each other on almost every point. Most didn't mention the White Walkers at all, and some mentioned them but said they were only pale skinned wildlings. The few that actually had information described them similarly to the children's book, only in more detail. They had glowing ice blue eyes and grayish white skin. They feared and hated the sun and anything warm. They poured from the far north, killed all in their path and raised the dead as their soldiers. Serana's stomach twisted as she read through the book. The White Walkers reminded her a little too much of vampires and Molag Bal.

Serana heard feet shuffling behind her. She paused from her book, silently relived for the distraction. "It's not considered wise to sneak up on a vampire."

"How did you know I was here?" Arya moaned.

Serana smiled. "I think I'm good enough at sneaking around to know when someone else is trying." Arya looked down at her feet disappointed. "Don't worry. I'm sure one day you'll be excellent at it."

Arya smiled and sat next to Serana. "Still looking for stuff about the White Walkers?"

Serana closed her book. "Yes and no. I've found information but it's not much."

"Old Nan says they're just stories people tell to their children so they'll behave."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if someone had told you that there were people with fangs and glowing orange eyes, who drank blood and couldn't go out in the sun and never aged, would you believe them?"

"Probably not. But you can go out in the sun. I've seen you."

"I'm not like most vampires. I usually have to wear a hood, but the sun's not very bright most of time here so I can get anyway with not using it."

"And if you don't age won't that mean that Yorren will eventually get to be an old man and you'll still be the same as you are now?"

Serana twitched. "Has anyone ever told you you're sometimes too curious for your own good?"

Arya looked at her feet. "Yes…"

Serana ruffled her hair. "That's enough questions for today. I know your father doesn't like you spending time alone with me either. Why don't you go see if anyone needs help setting up for the king?"

"Fine." Arya whined and ran off.

Arya's question had hit a sore spot. It was something she knew but didn't want to think about. More and more she'd thought about getting cured when they returned to Skyrim. While she'd never wanted to be a vampire, she'd long ago accepted that part of herself and accepted that she would likely never be human again, but with that came the realization that she would outlive all of her friends and loved ones. They would all eventually grow old, wither, and die around her and she would be the same as the day they'd met, only then she'd be alone. She returned the book to its shelf after deciding that going to help set up might take her mind off her recent unpleasant thoughts.

* * *

Serana, Yorren, and Namia stood behind Ned and his family and between John and Maester Luwin as everyone gathered around for the king's arrival. Serana laughed as Arya ran up at the last minute wearing a helmet too big for her. Just as she stood by Sansa the castle gates opened and the parade of men rode in.

The first two were clad in silver-gray armor with white cloaks and stupid looking large finned helmets. The next two to come through were a teenage boy wearing red and gold velvet robes and a large man in dark grey armor with a full helm that looked like a wolf's head. The boy smiled at Sansa who blushed and smiled in return. Following them a carriage pulled in along the wall. Lastly was a very fat man accompanied by two more of the white cloaks rode in, everyone dropped to their knees. Serana, Yorren, and Namia did the same. The man approached Ned and motioned for him to stand. Once Ned rose to his feet everyone followed.

"You got fat." The king said. Serana had to bite her lips together in order to not laugh. She was fortunate that the king laughed at himself after Ned gave him an incredulous look. The king and Ned hugged.

The king then proceed to greet Catelyn and their five legitimate children, to John's displeasure. Serana couldn't blame him. Catelyn treated the boy like he was some horrible monster, just for being born from a different woman. She had no doubt that the king would all but ignore John's existence. She was proven right when after greeting Bran the king turned his attention to Yorren.

Ned and Catelyn parted ways as the king walked past them. He held out his hand and Yorren shook it. "You must be the mysterious visitor from across the sea I've heard so much about."

Yorren nodded. "Yes your Grace. I am Legate Yorren Frostborn of the Imperial Legion from Tamriel." He motioned to his left. "This is my second in command, Tribune Namia Valnnia."

"Your Grace." She bowed.

"A woman? In command of a military unit?"

"I'm probably better than most military commanders in the seven kingdoms."

Serana snorted. At least Namia was consistent with running her mouth. Yorren, Ned, and most of the gathered people were looking in shock, but the king just smiled and laughed to himself. Serana suspected that the king wasn't the kind of noble that wanted everyone to kiss his ass.

The king looked Serana up and down. "Well now aren't you a lovely looking lady."

She bowed her head. "Thank you your Grace. I'm Serana, his better half." She nudged Yorren in the side.

King chuckled. "You in his military too?"

"No your Grace, but I still know plenty of way to kill a man."

The king laughed and turned back to Yorren. "I like her! Sharp tongue on her." He clapped Yorren on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you approve your Grace."

"Bah! Enough of this, 'Your Grace' shit. Any friend of Ned's is a friend a' mine! Call me Robert." Yorren nodded. Robert made his way back out of the crowd of people. "Alright Ned, take me to your crypts. I want to pay my respects."

"We've been riding for a month my love," The woman who had been riding in the carriage said. "Surely the dead can wait?"

"Ned." Robert motioned for Ned to follow him. He gave the queen an apologetic look before following Robert.

Yorren and Serana exchanged a look. Robert's blatant disrespect for his wife was apparent to everyone gathered. Serana heard Arya ask something about 'the Imp', and the queen stormed off to one of the white cloaks.

* * *

Night had fallen over Winterfell and most everyone had gathered together in the great hall for a feast. Serana sat outside enjoying the fresh air. It was expected that she return to the feast, but she intended on taking her time. She never enjoyed large crowds, and seeing Robert drunkenly going after multiple women in the hall didn't make her want to return any faster. She heard a faint sound coming from the smithing area. Listening closer it sounded like someone hacking with a sword. When she walked over to investigate she saw Jon swinging at a practice dummy. He didn't see her so she stayed still watching him. He was good, but not as good as Yorren, though not many people were. She wondered how a fight between Yorren and Jaime Lannister would turn out; assuming Yorren only used weapons and not his Thu'um of course.

Serana decided that she'd been watching him long enough. "You're not bad with a blade."

Jon jump and spun around. "Serana... I didn't see you standing there..."

She smiled. "I know. I'm good at that."

"Shouldn't you be at the feast?"

"Probably. But a room full of Lords makes me... Well it brings back bad memories." She sat down on a barrel. "My father fancied himself a Lord."

"I'm guessing he wasn't a good one?"

She laughed. "Unless you count wanting to kill my mother and wanting to use me as a sacrifice in a blood ritual to blot out the sun forever, then no." Serana looked at Jon's face and laughed. He looked to between utter shock and disbelief. "You have a good man for your father Jon."

"So what happened to your father then?"

"Yorren and I killed him..." He started to say something but Serana stopped him. "I'm sorry I just stomped out here and interrupted you."

"It's not a problem I'm just practicing."

Serana smiled. "Wanna do some sparring?"

"You know how to fight?"

"Well I'm no swordsman but I know my way around a blade. Unless of course you're afraid I'll beat you."

Jon laughed and threw her a practice sword. "You're on. But don't think I'll go easy on you just cuz you're a woman."

"I hoped you'd say that."

She swung at Jon who easily blocked. She pulled her sword away and swung for his side, then up from below. Both times she was parried. She didn't say it but she was going easy on him at first. After several minutes Serana decided to step back let Jon be the aggressor. His attacks were violent and angry. Serana was still able to dodge or parry them, but he was becoming more and more aggressive as time went on. He overextended his last swing as Serana sidestepped him. She grabbed his arm and twisted his sword from him.

Panting he held up his hands. "Yield." They turned around when someone started clapping behind them. "Uncle Benjen!" Jon hurried over to his uncle and the two men hugged.

"It's good to see you again Lady Serana."

"Good to see you too."

Benjen sighed and turned back to Jon. "Rode all day. Didn't want to leave you alone with the Lannisters. Why aren't you at the feast?"

"Lady Stark thought it might insult the royal family to seat a bastard in their midst."

"Well, you're always welcome on the wall. No bastard was ever refused a seat there."

"So take me with you when you go back."

"Jon…"

"Father will let me if you ask him."

"I know he will. The wall isn't going anywhere."

"I'm ready to swear your oath."

"You don't understand what you'd be giving up. We have no families… None of us will ever father sons…"

"I don't care about that!"

"You might, if you knew what it meant." There was the sound of breaking glass and rowdy cheering. "I'd better get inside, rescue your father from his guests. We'll talk later."

Benjen started to walk away and Serana followed him. "Benjen, a moment please?"

"What is it?"

"I'd like to go beyond the wall."

Benjen stood there dumbfounded for a moment before he spoke. "May I ask why?"

"It is personal."

"Well it's not strictly forbidden, but I can safely say that it's never been requested before, and certainly not by a woman. No offense"

"None taken." Serana waved her hand. "Look. I know it's dangerous, unlike what most people seem to think. I've seen things that would make most men run and cower under a desk. I AM one of those things. Trust me when I say that I am more than capable of handling myself."

Benjen sighed. "Alright. I'm going on a ranging a few days after we return to Castle Black. You can come with us. But I can't speak for how the Lord Commander or the rest of the Night's Watch will react to having a woman in their midst. Remember, most of them haven't so much as seen a woman in years."

"I'm sure it'll be fun. And thank you." She bowed her head as Benjen strolled off to the great hall.

Just as Serana was about to follow him she noticed someone walking towards her. "Did I hear that correctly? A woman going to the wall?" Serana saw a very short man walking towards her with a wine skin in his hand. "Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I don't believe we have been properly introduced. You must be Lady Serana."

"I am. And you must be Lord Tyrion Lannister."

"I see you've heard of me. I do hope it's mostly good."

"No. Not really. Tales of your exploits are not usually told in a… well-meaning manner."

"Such a shame. But I do have to ask, what does a high class Lady such as yourself hope to find beyond the wall?"

"Like I told Benjen, it's personal."

Tyrion sighed. "I see. Well I too intend on visiting the wall, though I don't intend on going to the other side. Perhaps I'll see you on the way there."

"Most likely."

Tyrion took another swig of wine. "Well, I think I'm ready to go in now. How about you?" She nodded. "Then would you allow me the honor of escorting you back to the great feast?" He held out his hand.

Serana took it. "You know my husband might not approve."

"Jealous man?"

"Not usually, but you do have a reputation." The two shared a laugh as they walked to the great hall.

* * *

Serana walked the streets of Winterfell alone in her thoughts. The previous night's feast had been what she'd expected. Robert had gotten drunk, generally been an ass and embarrassed his family. Even Ned had gotten uncomfortable about his old friend's loud, obnoxious behavior, though no one had said anything to stop him. Aside from the kings antics the feast was just like any other she'd been to. Once Robert had awoken from his drunken slumber he and Ned left for a hunting trip. Wanting to know more about Tamriel he'd asked Yorren to accompany them. She doubted that he'd tell very much, he wasn't very thrilled with Robert's behavior either, but he went with them none the less.

"Serana!" She turned around to Namia walking towards her.

"Tribune Valnnia." She nodded.

Namia waved her hand dismissively. "You're not in the Legion. Just call me Namia. I've never been a fan of titles anyway."

Serana smiled. "Alright. So what are you doing out here?"

"Out for a stroll, just like you. How'd you sleep after the festivities?"

"I don't need to sleep."

Namia laughed. "Oh come on, I know better. I saw you pass out on the ship. You need to sleep, so why do you say otherwise?"

Serana shrugged. "Don't know. Sounds more… vampirey… I guess. How about you?"

Namia laughed. "Like a baby."

"So what's the real reason for you coming here? I don't buy that you just happened to be strolling around at the same time and place as me."

"Why, you are a suspicious one aren't you? It's not that big of city. Is it not possible for two people to run into each other while walking?" Serana simply glared at her. Namia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. I wanted to try to get to know you. We're likely going to be here a long time. We might as well try to be friends. Besides, you are somewhat famous."

"Me? Why?"

"You're the woman who won the heart of the mighty dragonborn. Do you have any idea just how many woman swoon over the idea of being with the dragonborn?"

"Probably a lot."

Namia laughed. "Too many. And the funniest part is almost none of them even know what he looks like. He could be sitting right next to them and they'd never know."

"And he'd play along with it too!" Both women laughed again.

"GET BACK YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Someone yelled behind them.

The two turned around and say a young boy in rags running for his life from a shop keeper. Namia grabbed the boy and put him behind her. "What in Oblivion's going on!?" She yelled at the shop keeper.

"That littl' shit's thief! That's what's goin' on!" The man was overweight and very red in the face, though whether it was from his anger or his attempt at running Serana couldn't tell.

"What did he steal?"

"A loaf a bread. What's it too you?"

"How much?"

"What?"

"How. Much."

"Two silvers."

"You're chasing a starving child through the streets over two silvers worth of bread?"

"It ain't 'bout the money. It's 'bout the principle."

Namia rolled her eyes. "Here. This should cover it." She dropped six gold coins in the man's hand. "Now let's just go on and forget this happened."

"You some kind a stupid bitch? I said it's not 'bout…" Namia cleared her throat and motioned with her eyes to look down. His face paled when he did. Namia had a large dagger pressed against the man's groin. Serana was surprised too; she'd never even seen Namia draw it, let alone that she even had it on her in the first place. "I th… think I'll go back ta' my shop now… H… have a nice day… ladies…"

As he scurried off Namia knelt down by the boy. He was scared, and likely didn't know whether or not Namia was about to kill him. She handed him a small pile of gold coins, to the boys shock. "Get out of here, and don't get caught next time."

"That was… Impressive." Serana said after the boy ran off. "From what Yorren's told me, you'd never help anyone like that."

"Yorren doesn't know me very well. But I suppose he would be right. Normally I wouldn't but, I just seem to have a soft spot for the little urchins."

"Maybe if you tried to get to know him like you're doing with me."

Namia scoffed. "I know he doesn't like me or trust me and that's fine. He's got no reason too."

"I think he's been starting to warm up to you since this who thing started."

Namia shrugged. "He's not wrong about me. Mostly anyway."

Serana sighed. "So you like children?"

"Very much actually."

"Even thought of having one yourself?"

"I could ask you that same question."

Serana looked confused. "I'm a vampire. I can't have children. I thought that would be obvious."

"I'm sorry. I guess I could be a bit more tactful." She sighed. "I can't either."

"Why not?"

"Many years ago, before I was even twenty years old, I was in a tavern, drunk off my ass, had enough pride for every patron there, but none of the skills to back it up. I got into a fight, and I got stabbed, down there. I was thrown out the backdoor and into an alleyway to die. Someone eventually found and took me to a healer. They did what they could but, I never healed properly…"

Serana looked horrified. "Can you…" She lowered her voice. "Can you still have sex?"

Namia laughed. "You should just ask Theon that."

"You slept with Theon?"

Namia shrugged. "If you want to call it that. I'd be surprised if the boy will be able to walk straight for days." The two laughed. "No, that's not the problem. I've been pregnant twice since then. I couldn't carry either to term and let's just that… Well it wasn't pleasant when I found out."

"I'm so sorry."

Namia waved dismissively. "I wouldn't be a good mother anyway. But it was a good thing in a way. It's made me what I am now. I learned how to wield magic and this," She pulled out her knife, "Has saved me more times than I can count. There's not a damned person in all of Tamriel that can wield a knife better than me." Serana doubted the claim but before she could say anything they heard a loud crash ahead of them. Namia sighed. "What in Oblivion is it now?"

When they heard someone scream they ran and found a large crowd of people gathered around a destroyed market stall. The two shoved their way through the crowd yelling at them to get out of the way. They froze when they got to the center. In the rubble of stall laid Bran. His eyes were glazed over and half shut. He was covered in cuts, his right arm looked to be badly broken, and there was a trickle of blood running down the back of his head. Namia knelt down next to him and put her head on his chest. "He's still alive! Go! Go get the Maester and the Priestess!"

Serana was already running off before she could finish her sentence.

* * *

Winterfell had been in a depressed, dull, haze over the next few days. Bran had been visited by Maester Luwin and Priestess Sorosi several times. Sorosi was able to mend his arm and Bran would live, but despite their best efforts they were unsure if he would ever walk again.

Catelyn couldn't be pried away from Bran's side. Yorren and Serana had both come in to say their goodbyes her and pay their respects to Bran after Ned had. Jon had come by as well, but after telling Bran goodbye Catelyn couldn't have pushed him out the door fast enough. Even Cersei and Joffrey had come to pay their respects, though Serana knew Joffrey was only there because his uncle Tyrion had slapped him until he'd agreed to it. Serana had quickly grown to dislike the boy, almost as much as she disliked his father, but she thought it best to keep that to herself.

Serana stood just outside of the Winterfell gates atop hill enjoying the cool morning air. The royal party was gathering nearby for the trip down to King's Landing, while Benjen was gathering a small group to head north to the Wall. She saw Yorren and Namia talking and walked over to them.

"I'm trusting you." He said to Namia.

"It won't be misplaced. I'll guard Winterfell with my life." Yorren looked confused at the lack of her normal impudent tone. They saluted each other before Namia walked back through Winterfell's walls.

Yorren and Serana smiled at each other. "So, this is it." She said.

"You sure about going?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Just try not to get into too much trouble."

She scoffed. "Oh come on, it's me remember."

"That's why I'm worried." He laughed.

Serana playfully slapped him. "Ass."

"Try not to miss me too much."

"I think you'll miss me more. I'll be having too much fun hunting things while you'll be stuck in a castle with a bunch of brown-nosing nobles." She traced the bite marks she'd left on his neck during their 'session' last night. She was relieved to find out that they hadn't woken half the castle in the middle of the night.

"You do make it sound so tempting."

They hugged. "I promise I'll hurry back." She whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too." They kissed then parted.

As Yorren walked away she did one final check to make sure her armor and sword belt were fastened properly before walking to Benjen's group.

"Ah Lady Serana, glad to see you finally joining us." Tyrion said. "I think you might very well be the most interesting person on this little trip."

Jon and Benjen glared at him. Serana simply rolled her eyes as she climbed up on a horse they had waiting for her.

"I sent a raven to the Lord Commander telling him about your visit. Hopefully he'll be able to keep the men in line." Benjen told her.

"You don't think they'll be happy to see me?"

Benjen laughed, "No lass, I think some might be a little too happy to see you."

Serana chuckled as the group rode off.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed in places, but I was trying to get a lot done without making the chapter too long. The chapters are likely going to be getting longer then they have been. So that means that I likely won't be able to update as often. Also, thanks for views! I never imagined that I would have nearly 3,000 by now! You guys rock!**

**Next time: We pay a visit to Whiterun.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So for some reason this chapter just wouldn't come out the way I wanted, even after a couple rewrites, but I'm relatively happy with it now. It was going to be longer, but sorta turned into more of a teaser for the Skyrim side of the story.**

* * *

Whiterun was alive with its usual busy streets and market. Most of its residents and visitors went along with their daily routines without a care. Lydia envied them. She sat next to Aela in Jorrvaskr's patio watching Lucia sparring with Athis. Despite that she was twelve and had only begun training a few months ago she had become quite skilled and had the dark elf on the defensive.

Aela contentedly sighed. "The Harbinger would be proud of her." Lydia didn't respond; she only continued to watch. "Have you told her yet?"

"No. I still don't want to believe it."

"You should tell her soon. She'll hear about it one way or the other, better it be from you."

"They never found his body. He could have survived. Trust me when I say he's hard to kill."

Aela smiled. "Aye. That he is, but it's better she face what could be the hard truth and have it be wrong, than hold out hope forever and have it be for not."

Lydia sighed. "I supposed you're right. I'll tell her tonight."

Athis' sword went flying through the air. Despite losing the match he had a giant smile across his face. Aela laughed. "Vicious little wolf she's turning out to be." She turned to Lydia. "Have you ever thought about joining the Companions? You'd make an excellent addition to our ranks."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm still sworn to protect Yorren and his family."

"The Companions are his family in a way... But I understand. You're always welcome to join if and when you wish."

Lydia nodded. She looked back over to Lucia, who was receiving instructions on how to grip her sword better. She waited until they were done talking before calling Lucia. "It's getting late. It's time to go."

"But Aunt Lydia..."

Athis put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright little one, we can continue tomorrow."

"Fine." She returned her training sword to its rack and walked to Lydia.

"You did really well today." Lydia said as they made their way through the wind district of Whiterun. It was a longer walk, but it avoided the crowded market area.

"He was going easy on me wasn't he..." Lydia chuckled. Lucia scowled. "I told him not to... I can beat him! Why didn't he give me a fair fight?"

"Lucia, that was him giving you a fair fight. Athis is at expert at one-handed weapons. You're good for your age, but you're not that good yet. One day you will be, but not yet."

Once Lydia had unlocked the door to Breezehome, Lucia immediately stormed off to her room and slammed the door. She'd taken Lydia's old room and Lydia had moved to the master bedroom. Lucia had been in this foul mood for nearly two weeks. It was obvious that she was upset over her parents, and Lydia couldn't blame her. Lucia's real mother had died and the rest of her family threw her out on the streets to die. No doubt she thought that was going to happen again. Lydia knocked on her door. "May I come in?"

"I guess..."

Lucia was sitting on the edge of her bed holding a doll that Yorren had given her for her birthday last year. Lydia sat down next to her. "There's something I need to talk to you about..."

"Mama and papa are dead aren't they..." It was more of a statement than a question.

Lydia sighed. There was no point in lying. "We don't know. They found two ships destroyed when they captured General Tullius, but your parents bodies weren't there."

"They lied! Mama and papa weren't traitors!" Lucia starting crying.

The Thalmor had captured General Tullius on a trading barge with a small army of legionnaires. They'd brought him and his men before the new emperor and the elder council, who had accused them of treason. In order to appease the Thalmor they had Tullius and his men executed. Lydia knew that one of the other two ships was Yorren's, though the Thalmor refused to say who was on them, probably because they knew all of Skyrim would be out for blood if they'd killed the dragonborn.

Lydia put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I know."

Lucia swatted her hand away. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed and sobbed into her pillow.

Lydia sighed and bit her lip nervously. "Alright." She stood up. "I'll be in the other room if you want to talk." When Lucia didn't answer her she left the room and gently closed the door behind her.

She shook her head. She'd faced down giants, trolls, dragons, and daedra without a second's hesitation, but when it came to dealing with a child Lydia was all but clueless. She grabbed a broom and started sweeping the master bedroom. She didn't know why, she just did. After about an hour and the room had been swept as good as it could be she went to check on Lucia. She knocked gently but there was no answer. She slowly opened the door and saw Lucia curled up asleep with her doll. Lydia smiled and closed the door. She went downstairs and started a pot of soup. It was nothing special, just something quick to eat. When it was done she poured a bowel and took it to Lucia's room. Lucia was still asleep so Lydia left the bowel on her nightstand and left. Once she was downstairs, she poured herself a bowel, but quickly found that she didn't have much of an appetite. She made her way back up to the master bedroom and closed the door behind her. She stripped off her clothes and slid into bed. She smiled and pulled the warm furs tight against her skin before falling asleep.

She awoke when she heard her door open and shut. Without moving and with one eye open she locked onto the dagger on her nightstand. She breathed a sigh of relief when the intruder spoke.

"Aunt Lydia?"

"What is it Lucia?"

"Th… Thank you for the soup…" She turned to walk out.

"Lucia, wait a moment." Lydia got up from bed and threw on a robe to cover herself before lighting a candle. "That's not all you wanted to talk about was it?"

Lucia looked at her feet. "I'm sorry I woke you…" She said meekly.

"It's fine." Lydia patted the bed. "Come, sit with me." She did but it was easy to tell that her attitude had gone from angry and resentful to sad and afraid. "What's on your mind?"

She started crying. "Please don't make me live on the streets again!"

Lydia hugged her. "Shh. No one's going to make you live on the streets. I promise."

"You mean it?"

"Many years ago I swore an oath to protect your papa. You're his family so it extends to you now. I'll never abandon you."

Lucia hugged Lydia tight and cried into her shoulder. "Do you think they're alive?"

Lydia smiled and nodded. "If there was any way that they could have made it off their ship, they did. And if they are out there somewhere I know they're doing everything they can to get back here."

Lucia smiled. "Aunt Lydia, can I sleep in here with you tonight?"

Lydia nodded. Once she'd gotten back in bed Lucia curled up around her and quickly fell back asleep.

* * *

They spent most of the next morning browsing around Whiterun's market. Lucia was noticeably happier and even volunteered to go to some of the stalls to get it done faster. It was all the better since Lydia had to stop in Belathor's shop and didn't want Lucia exposed to the man. Every time she came to his shop he either tried to get her to buy some useless trinket for way too much money or tried to hit on her. As she paid, he stayed true to tradition.

"Are you sure there's, nothing else I can interest you in?" He winked and gave her a sultry look.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Belathor, your attempts at flirting are pathetic. And no, there's not. There wasn't last time, or the time before that, and there won't be next time."

He shrugged. "Can't blame a man for trying." He went to polish some sliver cups he had sitting on the shelf behind the counter.

Lydia shook her head and walked out. When she exited the building she was confronted with the sight of Lucia begin bullied by Braith.

"We all heard about your traitor papa shrimp! Gonna get kicked out again huh?"

Lucia was short for her age. The two girls were both twelve, but Braith was almost a head taller than Lucia, who hated having that pointed out. "Braith go home." Lydia commanded.

"You're not my mama. I don't have to listen to you!"

Before Lydia could say anything to her, Lucia swung her fist straight at Braith's face. Braith was face down in the dirt with a bloody nose before she even knew what happened. Lucia climbed on top of her and started yelling. "Don't call me a shrimp! And don't you ever EVER call my papa a traitor again!"

"Lucia that's enough." Lydia said. Lucia got off Braith, who then scurried off. Lydia turned and glared at a guard chuckling behind them. "You didn't think to intervene?"

He shrugged. "Would have if it got too rough. Children fight. Not like her friend wasn't askin' for it either."

She rolled her eyes and started back to Breezehome. Once they'd dropped off everything Lydia and Lucia made their way back to Jorrvaskr for Lucia's training session with Athis. Lucia didn't know it but she had all but officially accepted into the ranks of the Companions.

They saw Athis waiting for them when they arrived. Lucia grabbed a training sword and the two soon began sparring. Lydia took her usual spot at the table and saw Aela practicing her archery. The woman was a sight to behold; she never missed a shot and only stopped when she'd emptied her quiver and the target dummy was all but invisible under a layer of arrows.

Lydia sat back and stared blankly into the sky. She hadn't noticed that Aela had come and sat next to her until she started talking. "So did you tell her?"

"She took it better than expected."

Aela nodded. As they watched Lucia parried Athis' swing, but rather than pulling her blade back she twisted it and wrenched it from his hands and tackled him to the ground. "Are you sure she's not the harbinger's real child?"

"I'm sure."

"Lydia." Someone said from behind them. They turned to see Vilkas. Yorren had placed him in charge of Jorrvaskr while he was away, which was often. "The Jarl has requested both of us in Dragonsreach."

"Didn't he say why?" He shook his head. "Alright. Just give me a minute." She walked over to Lucia who was being given another lesson in proper foot placement. "I have to go see the Jarl. I don't know how long I'll be so just head back to the house when you're done here." She told Lucia.

"Okay." Lucia hugged her goodbye.

* * *

"I've told you before," Vilkas said to those gathered in the Jarl's war room, "The Companions don't get involved with war. We're not soldiers."

"We're not talking about a petty civil war. We're talking about a potential invading force coming to conquer my city." Jarl Balgruuf replied.

"Do you really think that the Thalmor will respect the Companions neutrality? They'd slaughter you like dogs, just like they'd slaughter everyone else in this city." Irileth interjected.

Vilkas sighed. "Has there been any thing to make you think the Thalmor are going to make a move against the Empire?" He asked Legate Quentin Cipius.

"No, not technically, but I knew General Tullius. The man was many things but a traitor wasn't one of them. They set him up. If I wanted an excuse to go to war, finding a high ranking officer breaking a truce would be a damned good one."

"Alright, fine. If the Thalmor come, the Companions will help hold the city."

Jarl Balgruuf bowed his head. "Thank you. I knew I could count you. Dismissed everyone." Everyone stood from the table and slowly filed out of the room. When Lydia stood Jarl Balgruuf stopped her. "You were awfully quiet back there."

"Everyone seemed to have things under control."

Jarl Balgruuf sighed. "He's been gone for months now. We all know he was on one of those ships the Thalmor destroyed."

"They never found his body."

"Even if he did survive the ship, where would he have gone? They were in the middle of the ocean Lydia. There's no way he could have made it back to land."

She hung her head down. She knew he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. He handed her a rolled up paper. "What is this?"

"You're officially discharged from Yorren's service."

"I swore an oath."

"To man who's now dead Lydia. Let him go."

"What about his daughter? She's lost her family, twice."

"His adopted daughter. She has no real relation to him."

"How can you be so cold?"

"Lydia, you know it's not about that."

"I know what it's about. And I won't let her get thrown out on the streets again."

"Lydia…"

"I won't, let her."

Jarl Balgruuf sighed. "Fine. Have it your way. But you have to adopt her. I can't have an orphaned girl and an unbound housecarl living together in a dead man's house."

"Fine. I'll pay any fees and sign any papers."

"I'll have Proventus write them up for you. They'll be ready by tomorrow."

Lydia bowed her head. "Thank you my Jarl."

* * *

It was late afternoon when Lydia returned home. Lucia was still out so she decided to clean and inspect her armor. She opened a large closet in the master bedroom to reveal the set of Akaviri armor along with a shield and katana that she had received when Yorren inducted her into the Blades. Her time as a Blade was bitter-sweet, and though she was technically the last remaining Blade she no longer considered herself one. Despite having killed Alduin, Delphine was adamant that Yorren still kill Paarthurnax. When he refused, words were exchanged, and when words came to blows Lydia came to Yorren's defense while Esbern came to Delphine's. When the dust had settled Delphine and Esbern were on the floor in pools of each other's blood.

Lydia pulled each piece of her armor out and wiped it down with a cloth; inspecting for rust, dents, or any other damage. Most of the pieces were fine except for the shield, which had a dent the size of her forearm along the edge. She made a mental note to take it to Adrianne next door tomorrow. She set the shield aside and returned the rest of her armor to the closet. Lydia removed her sword from the rack at the top of the closet and drew it from its sheath. This was her second sword. The curved katana had taken some getting used to when she first joined the Blades; she made the mistake of trying to parry a strike rather than deflect, and ended up bending the sword.

She looked out the window and saw that it was already night, and had been for a while. She started to worry about Lucia until she heard the sound of girls laughing outside. The door opened and closed and Lucia came bounding up the stairs smiling and giggling.

"Did I miss something?" Lydia asked.

"A girl I met. Her family just moved in today. She seems really nice." Lucia sat down next to Lydia.

"Well does your new friend have a name?" Lydia sheathed her sword and leaned it against the bed.

"Babette."

* * *

**The chapters are going to start having multiple POVs. My beta reader has suggested that I split them up into smaller chapters (7a, 7b, etc.). If I do this they would all still be released at the same time like they would be as if they were all in one. I don't like the idea very much, but I'll let you guys decide. I'll put up a poll and if the result for the smaller chapters is high enough I'll do it.**

**Again thanks everyone for reading! **

**Next time: Serana goes to the wall, Catelyn faces the assassin, and Yorren shouts at stuff.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Many people have been complaining about how long this chapter has been taking to get out (myself included), so I decided to split it up into two chapters. Also now with finals over for most this should be a nice little treat. Anyway enjoy. : )**

* * *

**Serana**

Serana knelt by the river and washed the deer's blood from her hands. She hated hunting and she hated animal blood. It couldn't sustain her like human blood could, but it would have to do. She would likely have to go kill another animal or two even if she rationed the blood. Once she had drained the blood from the deer, she'd brought the deer to the group's camp to be cooked. When she'd finished washing she gathered the vials of blood and put them in a pouch on her belt after choking one down.

As she made her way back to camp, she saw Benjen accompanying two men with their hands bound together. She couldn't tell what it was from the distance but something about them made her skin crawl. Jon and Tyrion were sitting opposite of the two captives around the fire. She liked Tyrion, he was smart and witty, although his refusal to acknowledge that there was anything threatening beyond the wall irritated her. As Serana got close to the camp she could hear Tyrion needling Jon about joining the Nights Watch. Serana decided she would have a bit of fun with him.

"A bastard boy, with nothing to inherit. Off to join the ancient order of the Nights Watch along with his valiant brothers in arms."

"The Nights Watch protects the realm..."

"Ah yes, yes. Against grumpkins and snarks, and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about. You're a smart boy. You don't believe that nonsense."

Serana slowly crept up to Tyrion and stopped mere inches away from him. "Perhaps that's why he does." If anyone had told her that a dwarf could jump as high as Tyrion just had she wouldn't have believed them. Jon nearly fell over himself laughing.

Tyrion lifted himself out of the dirt and made a vain attempt to compose himself. "Lady Serana… I didn't see you standing there."

"If I'd wanted you to, you would have."

He sat back on his log and took a swig from his wineskin. "Well now that you've your fun at my expense, would you care to join us?" She sat down between him and Jon. "So, do you believe in all these monsters that supposedly live beyond the wall?"

"I think you're one of few here who don't. Look into my eyes and tell me what you see." Tyrion was confused but he did anyway.

"You don't have eyes like I've ever seen before, but what's that got to do with what monsters live beyond the wall?"

"Sometimes I wonder if thick headedness is intentional. I am one of the most dangerous and feared creatures in all of Skyrim. Any other one of my kind wouldn't hesitate to kill every single person here and drink their blood dry."

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing we have you with us and not one of them, isn't it?"

Serana could tell she'd unsettled him, though he was good enough at hiding it that Jon didn't notice. She looked over her shoulder at the two men who'd joined their group to find one of them glaring menacingly back. "What's with them?"

"Rapers. Chose a life on the Wall over castration. Do they make you nervous?"

Serana hadn't realized that her hand had wrapped around the handle of her sword when Tyrion had said what they were. Ever since the ritual that turned her into a vampire all those centuries ago rapers held a special place of loathing in her heart. She relaxed her hand. "I don't think your Lord Commander would like it very much if his new recruits arrived at the wall dead.

"You were raped weren't you?" Jon asked.

Serana was surprised by how direct his question was. She nodded. "Yes. Yes I was, a very long time ago. It's why I'm what I am now."

Jon and Tyrion both had looks fear and morbid curiosity. "But how?"

Serana shook her head. "You don't want to know."

Tyrion was the next to talk after several minutes of silence. "Well this has been a rather, interesting, conversation." He uncorked his wineskin and took a drink. "Wine makes everything better." He passed it to Serana. She gave him a weak smile and took a drink before passing it to Jon.

* * *

**Catelyn**

Maester Luwin walked into Bran's chamber and placed his hand on the boy's head. Catelyn tried to ignore him and continue on with her sewing. She didn't want any visitors, simply to be alone with Bran.

"It's time we reviewed the accounts, my lady." He sighed and clasped his heads together. "Do you want to know how much this royal visit has cost us?"

"Talk to Poole about it."

"Poole went down south with Lord Stark, my Lady." Catelyn stared at him. "We need a new steward, and there are several appointments that..."

"I don't care about appointments!" She snapped.

"I'll make the appointments." Both she and Luwin turned to see Rob standing in the doorway. "We'll talk about it first thing in the morning."

"Very good my lord." Luwin said. "My lady."

Catelyn ignored him and returned to her sewing. Rob strode across the room and opened the window. Catelyn could hear the howls and barks of the direwolves below and shuddered.

"When was the last time you left this room?"

Catelyn was barely able to maintain her composure. "I have to take care of him."

"He's not going to die mother. Maester Luwin and Priestess Thealas both say the most dangerous time has passed."

"What if they're wrong!? Bran needs me!"

"Rickon needs you!" Catelyn simply stared at him. "He's six. He doesn't know what's happening, he. He follows me around all day, clutching my leg, crying..."

"CLOSE THE WINDOW! I can't stand it! Please make them stop!" Catelyn cried.

Rob walked over to the window to close it but paused. "Fire." Catelyn looked up at him as he backed away. "You stay here I'll come back." He rushed out the door.

Catelyn could hear people shouting along with bells ringing on top of the wolves howling. She rose from her chair a cautiously walked to the window. Off in the distance a large raged in the castle. Suddenly however Catelyn got the unsettling feeling that she was no longer alone in the room. She turned around to see a tall slender man in black robes standing in the doorway.

"You're not s'pposed to be here. No one's s'pposed to be here." He paused and looked to Bran. "It's a mercy. He's dead already." He drew a large dagger from his belt. He moved towards Bran, but was stopped almost as soon as he did.

Seemingly out of know where a second person appeared behind him. A woman wearing black and red leather including a full faced cowl had him restrained. She had grabbed and twisted his open arm and to Catelyn's surprise held the man's own dagger to his throat. It took the man a moment to even realize that he had been disarmed. He tried to struggle but the woman pressed the dagger in drew a trickle of blood.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She whispered in his ear. "Such an amateur. Getting caught like this... Tisk tisk tisk."

"Wh... Who are you?"

The woman chuckled. "A professional. Though I must say starting a fire like that was a rather... Interesting approach... Well maybe if it had worked that is." He tried to break free of her grip. She had restrained both his arms by now. "I'd stop moving if I were you. Unless of course you want me to open your throat." He swallowed and held still. "Good. Now normally I'd let you go on with the job but unfortunately for you I have a soft spot for the little urchins." She shook her head. "Just how desperate can you be to kill an unconscious child in his own bed?" Catelyn heard voices coming from down the hall. The woman heard them too and sighed. "Looks like it's your lucky day after all." She quickly removed the blade from the man's throat and plunged it into his knee. He fell to the ground screaming as the woman bolted for the opened window and jumped through it. Catelyn ran to the window and looked out, but saw no sign of the mysterious woman.

As she turned back around Bran's direwolf Summer and several Imperial guards ran into the room. Summer bared his teeth and growled at the assassin on the floor as two of the guards lifted him to his feet. "Are you alright Lady Stark?" One asked.

She nodded. "He tried to kill Bran. Take him to the dungeons." The guards bowed their heads and dragged the assassin away. She sat down in her chair shaking and wondering if all that had really just happened. Summer was lying on the bed next to Bran and gave her a curious look before putting his head down on Bran's lap.

* * *

Catelyn woke up horribly groggy the next morning. She had maybe gotten an hour or so of sleep, and that was only out of the sheer exhaustion of pacing around Bran's room most of the night. Most people in the castle had heard about what had happened and a large crowd had gathered around the entrance to the dungeons.

"Lady Stark." Tribune Valinna greeted and bowed her head. Catelyn nodded. "My men have been searching the castle for the woman, but they haven't been able to turn anything up. Are you sure she jumped out the window? That's quite a fall."

"Yes, I'm sure."

Namia sighed. "Well it's a big castle. Plenty of places a Dark Brotherhood assassin could hide."

"A who?"

"My apologies. I forget you've never heard of them. The Dark Brotherhood is an ancient order of assassins in Tamriel. They're the best at what they do and the most feared organization in the Empire."

"You almost sound like you admire them."

Namia shrugged. "Why deny it if it's true. They recently assassinated Emperor Titus Mede II. It honestly doesn't surprise me that one was able to sneak onto one of our ships." Catelyn gave her a weary look, unsettled by the woman's explanation. "Shall we?" Namia motioned to the door. Catelyn nodded and the two made their way through the crowed.

When the two made it through the door they were greeted by Ser Rodrik Cassel, who bowed his head to both. "He's not talking."

"You haven't been able to get anything out of him?" Catelyn asked. Rodrik shook his head.

"No my lady."

Namia scoffed. "I'll make him talk." Rodrik gave her a weary look which she ignored. She motioned for four Imperial soldiers to follow her.

The group stopped outside the man's cell. "Please, let me talk to him first." Catelyn said.

"As you wish my lady." Rodrik nodded. "Open the cell." The Winterfell guards did.

Catelyn walked in followed by Namia and Rodrik. The assassin was sitting in on a bench in the corner, dressed in torn and stained rags. His knee had been bandaged where he'd been stabbed. He looked up and glared at Catelyn when they walked in.

"Why did you try to kill my son?"

"Was a mercy. Like I said."

"Who sent you?"

He spat. "They'd kill me if I told you."

"I'll kill you if you don't." Namia said nonchalantly.

He laughed. "Dead men tell no tales."

She walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "You'll talk, or you'll wish I'd killed you. Your choice." She turned to her soldiers. "Bind him to the window bars."

Two of the Imperial soldiers lifted the man by his arms and undid his bindings. They wrapped them around the window bars and rebound his hands. The man drooped down, unable to support his weight with is legs.

Rodrik quickly understood what Namia was going to do. "Lord Eddard would never approve of torture!"

"Lord Eddard isn't here." Namia turned to Catelyn. "Do you want to find out who wanted your son dead or not?" Catelyn nodded. "Good." Namia turned to the guards. "Leave us."

The Imperial soldiers resignedly obeyed and left the room. The Winterfell guards both looked to Catelyn confused. "My lady, are you sure about this?"

Catelyn nodded. "Do as she says." They bowed and left.

"You should go too. You don't want to watch this."

"No. I'm staying."

Namia shrugged. "Suit yourself." She closed the door once all the guards had left. The assassin began to panic.

"I thought you Northerners didn't torture people?"

Namia smiled. "I'm not a Northerner." She put down a black leather satchel on the bench the man had previously been sitting on. "That's a nasty looking wound you've got there." She tapped at his bandaged knee. "Sure you don't want to talk?" He looked at her with his eyes wide open with fear. Namia ripped the bandage off. His knee was bleeding through the stitches and looked yellow and infected. Namia shoved the bandage in his mouth and wrapped it around his head, gagging him. She kicked him in the knee before walking to the bench. He screamed into the gag and his legs fell out from under him.

Catelyn watched Namia open the satchel nervously. She had begun to pull out a multitude of torture tools, most of which were covered in old blood stains. Namia pulled out many types of knives, hooks, pliers, spikes, and other objects Catelyn couldn't identify, before she decided on a large corkscrew. She replaced all the other tools in the satchel and set the corkscrew on the floor. Catelyn nearly jumped backwards when Namia's hand spontaneously ignited in fire. The assassin was violently thrashing against his bindings and trying to shout through his gag. A gout of fire poured from Namia's hand onto the corkscrew. The man's eyes were wide open in horror. Once the corkscrew began to glow a dull red, the fire stopped and Namia pick it up and walked next to the assassin.

"You should have talked." She smirked and whispered into his ear. Namia swung the corkscrew and stabbed it into the man's abdomen. He screamed into his gag as it melted into his flesh. His flesh stretched, tore, and burned as she slowly began to twist the red hot corkscrew. He trashed like a rabid animal, screaming into his gag and crying. Blood ran down his abdomen and legs before pooling onto the floor. Namia jerked and twisted more, releasing more blood. Catelyn winced at the squelching sound the corkscrew made as it dug further into the man's flesh. Namia released her grip on the corkscrew and kicked his injured knee again when he was thrashing too much. When she continued black goo began to seep out of the wound she was inflicting, and Catelyn nearly vomited from the stench that quickly emanated from it. The man started choking on something. "You want me to move that gag for you?" The man grunted. Namia ripped it off and vomit and blood spilled from the man's mouth. "Are you ready to talk yet or should I keep going?" She twisted the corkscrew.

"IT WAS THE LANNISTERS!" He spit up more blood.

"See. That wasn't so hard was it?" She folded her her arms and glared at him. "Why did they hire you?"

"It was a mercy I swear!"

Namia turned the corkscrew. "Don't lie to me. No one hires an assassin for a mercy kill."

"IT'S TRUE! I SWEAR BY ALL THE GODS THAT'S WHAT HE TOLD ME!"

"What who told you?"

"THE LANNISTERS!"

"His name!?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Blood was running out of his mouth.

"Then how do you know he was a Lannister?"

He was crying and nearly choking on his own blood. "He... He looked like one... G… Gold hair… Blue eyes… Who else could it be?"

Namia twisted the corkscrew in further and he screamed. Catelyn couldn't take anymore. "STOP THIS! Please! That's enough!" She begged.

Namia scowled. "Very well." She drew a knife from her belt and in one quick motion cut through the man's neck nearly to the bone. Blood poured from the wound and he limply fell as far as his binds would allow.

* * *

Catelyn inhaled deeply as she stood in the godswood. What she was about to tell everyone gathered could very well count as treason. "What I am about to tell you must remain between us. I think Bran was thrown from the tower."

"The boy was always sure footed before." Maester Luwin said.

"When Tribune Valnnia, interrogated..." She shuttered at the memory, "the assassin, he admitted to being hired by the Lannisters. I think he saw something and they tried to kill him. He must have seen something he wasn't meant to see. Why else would they want an innocent child killed?"

Ser Rodrik drew the assassin's dagger. "Did you see the weapon he used? The blade is Valyrian Steel, the handle, dragonbone. Too fine a weapon for such a man. Someone gave it to him."

"They come into our homes. They try to murder my brother. If it's war they want..." Rob started saying.

Theon interrupted him. "If it comes to that you know I'll stand behind you."

"What?" Maester Luwin interjected. "Is there going to be a battle in the godswood? Hmm. Too easily words of war become acts of war. We don't know the truth yet."

"I agree." Namia said. "There's more going here than meets the eye."

"You were the one to get this information out of him." Ser Rodrik said. "Are you saying you doubt your own methods?"

"No of course not. But as I said before. No one sends an assassin for a mercy kill."

"Obviously it was to finish the job."

"Yes but why tell him it's a mercy? It wouldn't make a difference to the assassin. And why give him a specific weapon to use? Surely he had his own. I think we're either dealing with a very stupid Lannister, or it's a setup."

"Either way Lord Eddard must be told." Maester Luwin said.

"I don't trust a raven to carry these words." Catelyn said.

"I'll ride to Kings Landing." Rob replied.

"No. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell. I will ride there myself."

"Mother you can't."

"I must."

After a pause Namia spoke. "You shouldn't go alone. I can send some of my men to escort you."

"No. A large party attracts unwanted attention. Plus your men should be here looking for your Dark Brotherhood friend."

Namia smirked. "I don't think anyone here is in danger from her. She wouldn't expose herself like that if she were after someone."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she knows that we know she's here. No assassin would make an attempt at their target when they're being actively searched for. No, if she's still here either her target is already dead or there was no target at all."

"You seem to know a lot about assassins Tribune." Ser Rodrik said glaring at her.

"Is that an accusation?"

"Should it be?"

"I've had plenty enough dealings with them to have a good idea how they think."

"That's enough." Catelyn said. "Both of you."

"Forgive me my Lady. If you must go to Kings Landing allow me to accompany you at least. The kingsroad can be a dangerous place for a pair of women traveling alone." Ser Rodrik said. Catelyn nodded in approval.

"Allow me to go as well." Namia said. "If the Dark Brotherhood is operating here Yorren must be told, and it would be best if I told him myself." She looked to Ser Rodrik. "Plus you can keep an eye on me." She smirked.

Catelyn nodded. "Very well. If you think it best. We leave first thing in the morrow."

* * *

**Ned**

"FUS RO DAH!"

Ned walked over to where the thundering sounds were coming from to see Yorren standing in the middle of a clearing surrounded by cheering soldiers. He stood in shock when after Yorren said those words a massive shockwave emanated from his month and ripped through a pile of stones and wood.

"Alright pay up!" Yorren said to one of the soldiers, who tossed him a large coin purse. Ned cleared his throat and Yorren turned around. "Lord Stark, I didn't see you there." He quickly bowed his head.

"Walk with me." Ned said. "So what was that all about?"

"Oh, just a little bet I had with some of the men."

"No I mean that… Whatever it was that you did."

"Oh that… That was a Thu'um, like I told you about before. That is just one of the many different ones I know. Some of the men were curious about it so I decided to make a little game out of it." Ned gave him a scowl. "You don't approve?"

"Gambling has never been something I've held in very high regard."

Yorren smirked. "Well to be honest I don't normally either, but every now and then it can be worth it, especially if you already know you'll win."

"You swindled them?"

"They insisted. Plus how else am I to find a captain to ferry me and my men back to Skyrim? I doubt very many would be willing to travel halfway across the world to a continent they've likely never heard of on nothing but hopes and promises."

Ned couldn't help but laugh. "No, I suppose not." He paused for a moment. "Do you really think it wise to be, showing off, like that?"

"I do. If they know what I'm capable of then perhaps they will think twice before trying to cross me. You yourself have said how dangerous King's Landing is."

"I suppose that is an interesting way of looking at it. But I wasn't referring to the men, I was referring to Robert. I've kept him in the dark about your relations to dragons for now, but I don't want him to start asking questions about you."

"You don't trust your friend?"

"It's not that I don't it's just… If he gets it in his head that you are related to the Targarians in any form…"

"You think his reaction will be rather, rash?"

Ned nodded. "Robert has never been one to change his mind once he's gotten an idea in his head."

"I don't see how he would ever find out about my being dragonborn, but I understand your concerns and I'll tone it down."

"Thank you." He nodded. "Are you sure that you must leave for your homeland now? I could very much use your help when we get to King's Landing."

Yorren sighed. "I wish I could. I am grateful for the hospitality you have given to me and my men and I would repay you in any way I could, but I fear that my homeland is soon to break out in a second Great War, if it has not already."

Ned nodded. "I understand." Yorren had told him about the Great War of Tamriel thirty years ago which nearly destroyed his Empire and was the direct cause of the civil war in his country of Skyrim. He recalled Yorren's tales of the Thalmor's cruelty and hatred of men, viewing them as 'lesser beings'. If his stories were true, he sincerely hoped that Westeros would never have to war with them. If what Cateyln's sister Lysa said was true, Ned feared that the realm would soon be tearing itself to pieces and in no position to combat an outside invading force.

Yorren continued. "Though I have thought of late that my returning would be pointless…"

"How so?"

"The Empire is weaker than it has been in centuries, and it's current Emperor Virius Mede… He's not much unlike Robert, only without the powerful houses backing him or any kind of battle experience… I never had any love for the Empire, I joined it by happenstance when I got caught up in the civil war… But if it falls there will be nothing to stop the Thalmor from rampaging across Tamriel…"

Before their conversation could continue one of Ned's men came running towards him. "LORD STARK!"

Ned and Yorren shot each other a worried look as the man came to a halt panting. "What is it lad?"

"Lord Stark… Something's happened. Arya has been brought before the King."

"Why?"

"For attacking the Crown Prince…"

Ned didn't wait for the man to finish and ran for the inn Robert was staying in with Yorren following close behind.

* * *

Ned shoved everyone in his path aside as he strode through the Crossroads Inn. He met little resistance from the Lannister soldiers who shied away from Yorren's piercing glare as he followed Ned. Arya ran up to him and grabbed him repeatedly crying 'I'm sorry.'

He hugged her. "It's alright." He turned and faced Robert. "What is the meaning of this!? Why wasn't she brought to me at once?"

"How dare you speak to your king in that manner..."Cersei said snidely.

"Quite woman!" Robert snapped. "Sorry Ned, I never meant to frighten the girl, but we need to get this business done quickly."

Cersei was quick to pick up the conversation with her snide tone. "Your girl and that butcher's boy attacked my son. That animal of hers nearly tore his arm off."

"That's not true!" Arya yelled. "She just... bit him a little. He was hurting Mycah."

"Joff told us what happened. You and that boy beat him with clubs while you set your wolf on him."

"That's not true! That's not what happened!"

"Yes it is." Joffrey said. "They all attacked me and she threw my sword in the river." His voice quivered as he spoke.

"Liar!"

"Shut up!"

"Enough!" Robert bellowed. "He tells me one thing she tells me another! Seven hells what am I to make of this? Where's your other daughter Ned?"

"In bed asleep." Ned replied.

"No she's not." Cersei said. "Sansa, come here darling."

Everyone in the room turned to see Sansa solemnly walking towards the king. Robert motioned for her to stand directly in front of him. "Now, child... Tell me what happened. Tell it all and tell it true, it's a grave crime to lie to a king."

Sansa looked back at Ned, then to Joffrey. "I don't know... I don't remember… Everything happened so fast... I didn't see..."

Arya lunged at Sansa, hitting her in the back of the head and screaming "LIAR!" Yorren swooped in and grabbed her, lifting her off the ground as she violently thrashed against his arms. "ARYA STOP!" He yelled. After a moment she calmed down and Yorren released her.

Ned noticed how Robert looked disappointed with her behavior, while Cersei almost looked pleased. "She's as wild as that animal of hers. I want her punished." She said coldly.

"What would you have me do whip her through the streets?" Robert shot back. "Dammit, children fight. It's over."

"Joffrey will bare these scars for the rest of his life."

Robert glared at his son. "You let that little girl disarm you?" Joffrey looked down at his feet in shame. "Ned see to it your daughter is disciplined, I'll do the same with my son."

"Gladly, your grace." Ned said.

"What of the direwolf?" Cersei asked as Robert stood from his seat. "What of the beast that savaged your son?"

Robert turned to one of the Lannister guards present. "Have you got the damned wolf?"

"We found no trace of the direwolf your grace."

"No. So be it." He turned to leave before Cersei interjected.

"We have another wolf."

Robert turned to her. "As you will..."

"You can't mean it?" Ned said.

"A direwolf's no pet. Get her a dog; she'll be happier for it." He walked past Ned.

"He doesn't mean Lady does he?" Sansa said worriedly. "No, no not Lady. Lady didn't bite anyone she's good!"

"Lady wasn't there!" Arya yelled at Cersei and Joffrey. "You leave her alone!"

Sansa grabbed Ned's arm. "Stop them! Don't let them do it please! PLEASE IT WASN'T LADY!"

"Is this your command?" Ned half asked half yelled at Robert. "Your grace?" Robert turned for a moment before wordlessly continuing out of the room. Ned felt his stomach sink.

"Where is the beast?" Cersei asked the guard.

"Chained up. Outside your grace."

"Ser Ilyn do me the honor."

"No." Ned said blocking Ser Ilyn. "Jory, take the girls to their rooms." Sansa started to cry and Ned faced Cersei and Joffrey, both of whom had sickeningly smug grins on their faces. "If it must be done, I'll do it myself..."

"Is this some kind of trick?"

"The wolf is of the North. She deserves better than a butcher..."

Cersei sighed and turned to the guard. "Accompany Lord Stark would you?"

"Yes your grace."

Ned shot Cersei and Joffrey one more look of disgust before storming out the Inn, with the Lannister guard close in toe. As he walked towards where Lady had been chained he saw Yorren standing off in the distance conversing with a group of his soldiers. Ned hadn't noticed him leave with all the commotion. He nodded at Ned as he walked by, though Ned wasn't sure what for. Ned continued walking as the Hound walked past with Mycah's body draped over his horse. "The butcher's boy... You rode him down?"

"He ran. But not very fast." The Hound said flatly.

Ned hadn't realized that his hand was on his sword hilt until the guard spoke. "He was just following orders."

Ned glared at him. "Countless horrendous acts have been carried out by men 'just following orders.'"

When they arrived at where Lady had been chained Ned understood the nod Yorren gave him. He still stood in shock as instead of the direwolf they found a dully glowing and melted chain. The guard was shouting for men to help look for the wolf and for someone to get the king and queen. Ned didn't know how Yorren did it and almost didn't want to know, but he did know that Cersei would be furious.

* * *

**Yorren**

The campsite outside the Crossroads Inn had suddenly become alive with bustling of Lannister soldiers searching for Lady. Stark men were out looking as well, though noticeably less enthusiastically and thoroughly. Yorren laughed to himself; they could search all they wanted and never find her. It wasn't long before three Lannister soldiers approached him. "The king and queen demand your presence." One said.

He nodded his head. "Very well; best not to keep them waiting." The smug smiles on both Cersei's and Joffrey's faces had disgusted him when they ordered Lady's execution. The thought of seeing those smiles wiped off pleased him to no end, though he would keep his amusement toned down for Ned's sake. Another smile grew on his face. "WULD NAH KEST!" Almost instantly he shot forward several yards. He looked back at the dumbfounded looks on the Lannister soldiers faces and tauntingly shouted to them, "Are you coming or not?" They looked at each other before hurrying to catch up to him.

The walk to the inn wasn't very long which is what Yorren had hoped for. When he was escorted in he was glad to see that unlike before, this time was a small affair; only Ned, Robert, Cersei, and the guard from before were present. As he expected Cersei scowled deeply as he approached. Yorren hid his smile. "Your Grace." He said to both Robert and Cersei as he bowed his head.

Cersei wasted no time with her accusations. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The meaning of what your Grace?"

"You know exactly what. Sansa's beast is missing and you freed it."

"That's a very brash accusation. Do you have any proof?"

Cersei was trying hard not to raise her voice, but Yorren could see the screams aching to come out. "When Lord Stark went to kill the beast its chain was melted and you were seen conversing with some of your men beforehand, who were then seen heading back north."

Yorren glanced at across the room. Robert looked very tired and displeased with the direction this was going but stayed quiet. "Am I not allowed to converse with my own men? And even still, that's not proof of anything."

"It's common knowledge what you and those witches you keep can do. You had them use whatever foul magic you use to melt the beast's chains before smuggling it back to the North."

"Mages, your Grace. And if I may be so bold, how exactly would I or any of my men have been able to melt an iron chain and hide the wolf within the few minutes between your order and Lord Stark arriving to find the wolf not there? If our magic is as powerful as you say why couldn't the wolf have just been magicked away somehow rather than melting the chain? You have no proof your Grace, elsewise you would have me in chains rather than here making accusations…"

"How dare you speak to me in that manner!" Cersei finally snapped.

"Quite woman!" Robert yelled. "Look, I don't bloody well know what you and your mages can do and I bloody well don't care. I'm going to ask you this once and only once and if you lie to me seven hells help you.." He said pointing a fat finger at Yorren. "Did you have anything to do with setting the wolf free?"

"No."

He leaned back and sighed. "Very well then, we're done here."

Ned breathed a heavy sigh of relief but Cersei wasn't so pleased. "You can't be serious! One of their beasts mauled your son and you're going to do nothing!?"

"What would you have me do woman!? We don't have either of the damned wolves! Would you have me execute the daughter of the Hand of the King!? Would you have me execute him and his men!?" He pointed at Yorren. "Would that make you bloody well happy!?"

Cersei was fuming with anger. Her fist was clenched as if she was about punch Robert, but instead she turned around and stormed out of the Inn, with the Lannister guard following in toe. Yorren had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling. He couldn't blame Cersei for her anger. She had been made to look a fool publicly. The worst part for her was that she was correct. His men had freed Lady, paralyzed her, and turned her invisible before simply walking out of the camp with no one knowing the better.

Robert finally stood. "That woman will be the death of me…" He muttered before walking past Ned and Yorren, out of the Inn.

Ned grabbed Yorren and slammed him into the wall. "Are you mad!? Openly deifying the king? They could you executed for treason! You've put my family in danger!"

Yorren got to his feet. "Relax. He won't find out."

"How can you be sure?"

"I've taken precautions. Trust me. And if by some chance he ever did find out he won't make a move against you. You're more family to him than his own flesh and blood."

"You'd best be right." Ned caught his breath. "Why did you?"

"The wolf was innocent, and so was Sansa." Ned stared at him. "She doesn't deserve to have her pet murdered to satisfy the prince and the queen's cruelty. And I also have far more an affinity for wolves than most men, even more so than your house." Ned's interest was piqued. "Have you heard of werewolves Lord Stark?"

"I have. Tales of men who can transform into great beasts, but those are just wet-nurse tales." He thought about it for a moment. "Are you saying you're…"

"No. Not anymore anyway. I am now what you see before you, but I have been many things in my life. Been given 'gifts' by many different gods... Enough to last me many lifetimes."

Ned nodded. "I think it best I turn in for the night."

"Agreed." Ned left the Inn leaving Yorren by himself. He had no doubt about what he'd said about Robert. It would be a long time, years perhaps before Robert would find out about Lady being smuggled back to Winterfell. Robert would forgive Ned even if he became mad when he found out. He sighed to himself before departing the Inn. Based on everything he'd seen and heard of the Lannisters and of the situation in Kings Landing, a missing wolf was going to be the least of everyone's worries.

* * *

**Since chapter eight is just going to be the rest of this chapter it will be shorter. Thanks again everyone for reading.**

**Next time: Serana arrives at the wall, Catelyn at Kings Landing, and people do stupid stuff.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long to get out. I got sick twice while I was writing it and the end result wasn't that great. :/ Oh well nothing a few rewrites didn't fix. I'll try to update more often than once every two months or so. I know how frustrating for you guys it can be, but like I said before I can make no promises.**

* * *

**Namia**

Before their party had even arrived at Kings Landing both Catelyn and Ser Rodrik were complaining about the smell. It didn't bother Namia, in fact she hardly even noticed it. She'd spent long enough in the Riften sewers that very few smells bothered her. She also laughed to herself at Catelyn's and Ser Rodrik's uncomfortable looks whenever the fake moans of pleasure from whores in the brothel they now sat in echoed through the room. Namia was disappointed in her two companions for their lack of foresight in coming to the capital. Especially after hearing both of them talk about how the capital was a nothing but a den of scheming, backstabbing, snakes. Catelyn had wanted to come in through a side gate, in the hopes of arriving unnoticed, only to find the City Guard in their ridiculous gold chain shirts with overly large chain face veils waiting for them. How they could have thought that after an attempt on the life of hand of the king's son that no one would expect someone to come down to the capital was beyond her.

The doors opened and a tall, slender man wearing robes and a general demeanor that he was the center of the world strode in. Almost immediately after he closed the doors behind him, Catelyn shot up and threw the closest thing within reach at his head then shouted at him about bringing her to a brothel. Namia mostly ignored their banter in favor of focusing on the second man slowly creeping up behind a veil in the adjacent room even as she kept her eyes on Catelyn and the man she was arguing with, not wanting this other man to know he'd been spotted. Her hand was already wrapped around one of the daggers she kept hidden in her belt in case he tried anything stupid.

"I'm sorry for having to have brought you to this local," Littlefinger said holding his hands up, "But no one will come looking for you here."

"How did you know we were coming?" Catelyn asked. Littlefinger nodded to the man behind the veil, who proceeded into the room. "Lord Varys?"

"To see you again after so many years is a blessing." He said in an unusually soft tone.

"How did you know I was coming?"

"Knowledge is my trade, my lady. Did you bring the dagger with you by any chance?" Both Catelyn and Ser Rodrik shot each other worried looks, but Namia only let out a small laugh under her breath. "My little birds are everywhere, even, in the North. They whisper to me, the strangest stories."

So Varys was a spy. Namia would have to tell Yorren about him when she told him about the Dark Brotherhood incident, assuming he didn't already know about Varys. She wondered whether Varys didn't know about her or if he was playing some kind of game in revealing who he was while in her presence. She suspected it was the former, but made a mental note to keep a better eye out for him and his 'little birds'.

Ser Rodrik unwrapped the dagger from the cloth he'd brought it in and handed the blade to Varys. Varys unsheathed the blade and stared at it intently. "Valyrian Steel…"

"Do you know whose dagger this is?" Catelyn asked.

"I… I must admit I do not."

Littlefinger started laughing. "Well, well this is a historic day. Something you don't know, that I do." Everyone turned to look at Littlefinger. "There's only one dagger like this, in all of the Seven Kingdoms. It's mine."

"Yours?"

"At least it was until the tournament on Prince Joffrey's last name day. I bet on Ser Jaime as any sane man would, but the knight of flowers unseated him. I lost this dagger."

"To whom?"

"Tyrion Lannister. The imp." He said smiling.

No. That didn't sit right with Namia. For one Littlefinger was far too happy about the accusation. She knew that Tyrion was not the most popular figure in Kings Landing but she suspected something more behind his smile. More importantly though she didn't think that Tyrion would make such a mistake. She'd only met him briefly at Winterfell but she could tell that he was no fool. If that dagger was rare as Littlefinger claimed it to be than only an absolute imbecile would want it used. This was a setup. There was no doubt in her mind. The question was why. A thought to visit Littlefinger in the night and arrange an 'accident' for him quickly entered her mind but just as quickly left. She needed to know more about him and what he was up to. If her suspicions were right, then King's Landing was a far more dangerous place than either she or Yorren had thought. They needed a spy, and that was just what she would be.

* * *

**Serana**

The sun had risen over Castle Black and for once Serana was glad for its warmth. She suspected that they were farther north than they'd ever been in Skyrim. As she watched people slowly gather in the courtyard below, she heard someone approaching from behind. "You're up early." She said smiling without having to look to see who it was.

"Well with no whores or wine around there was nothing to keep me up late." Tyrion said. "Besides it's so cold, sleep is difficult." He looked at her in her rather light armor. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm always cold. Part of being a vampire." Serana closed her eyes and faced the sun. "Why do you think I'm standing here?"

Tyrion studied her face and watched as it quickly reddened. When she started wincing he realized that skin was burning. "Are you sure what you're doing is wise?"

She turned around and sighed. "I'll be fine."

Tyrion stared in awe as Serana's burnt skin returned to its normal pale white almost as fast as it burned. "So you look well. I'd assume you at least slept well." He said attempting to change the conversation less, unusual.

Serana smirked. "I didn't sleep at all last night."

"Let me guess." Tyrion said. "You don't sleep either."

Serana laughed. "If I had a septim for every time I was asked that I would be a rich woman."

"I sense a story behind this."

"Yes I do sleep. I just don't need to as often as mortals. But when people kept asking me and seemed disappointed at the answer I started telling them that I don't sleep at all. Makes me seem that much scarier I suppose."

"Told them exactly what they wanted to hear." Tyrion chuckled. "People are strange like that." The two watched as Ser Alliser Thorne slowly dragged himself out into the courtyard. His skin was pale and clammy and he seemed to be out of breath. "Looks like our dear friend down there had a bit of a rough night too."

A large smile crept up on Serana's face. "You have no idea."

"What did you do?" Tyrion asked worriedly.

Serana shrugged. "I was thirsty. He'll be fine in a few days so long as he doesn't do anything stupid. I only drank about a pint." She smirked at Tyrion's discomfort. She wasn't intentionally trying to unnerve him but it was entertaining none the less. "Besides his blood tasted like stale piss."

"And how would you know what stale piss tastes like?"

"Not for the reason you're thinking." She'd fallen for that joke before and she wasn't about to again.

Tyrion snorted. "If I asked you a question would you answer it honestly?" He asked after a pause.

"Yes. Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Just how dangerous are you?"

"Ah. I see. Well, how dangerous do you think?" She asked looking him in the eyes.

Tyrion sighed. "As much as I don't want to believe the things you've told me, I do. And I think you're more than capable of killing every person in this castle."

"Then why do you stick around me?"

"What can I say? I like to live dangerously." Tyrion quipped.

Serana sighed. "You're right... But the literal monster I would have to become... It isn't something I'm eager to do..."

The truth was that she couldn't control her vampire lord form. She'd only used it once since Yorren freed her from her crypt nearly three years ago. She had stumbled upon a group of bandits attacking a small farm while heading out to Whiterun. She'd bested a few of them but got careless and was stabbed in the back. In a rage she shifted and slaughtered the bandits, but the blood lust made her turn on the farmers as well. It wasn't the first time she'd killed people, but it was the first time it had bothered her. She dug holes for them out behind the house to bury them. Yorren eventually rode out to find her and when he did she collapsed in his arms and cried. She didn't know what he would do to her. She even thought he might kill her, since she had just killed several innocent people. Instead he picked up a shovel and helped her dig the holes. He never spoke of it after that, but for over a month he couldn't look her in the eye.

"You look troubled. Something wrong?" Tyrion ask.

"No." She lied. "Just… old memories is all."

The two turned to see Lord Commander Jeor Mormont walking towards them. Serana and Tyrion bowed in greeting as Mormont took Serana's hand and kissed it. "I trust you find the wall acceptable my Lady."

"I've had worse." She smiled. "And feel free to just call me Serana."

He nodded. "As you wish."

The three watched as Alliser shot to his feet and sparred with one of the recruits. After just two strikes Alliser had disarmed him, thrown him down, and yelled about how he was useless. He then ordered Jon to fight another of the recruits. The fight lasted less than ten seconds and ended with Jon breaking the other recruit's nose.

"He seems a charming man." Tyrion quipped as Ser Alliser sent them off, yelling about not being able to stomach them anymore.

"I don't need a charming man." Jeor replied. "I need one who can turn these boys into men of the Nights Watch."

"And how's that going?"

Jeor sighed. "Not well." He reached into his coat and pulled out a rolled up letter before handing it to Tyrion. "A raven came this morning, for Ned Stark's son."

"Good news or bad?"

"His brother will walk again."

"Thank the gods."

"Yes. He's lucky; the fall should have killed him."

Serana smiled. "Restoration is an underrated school of magic. A master healer can bring a man from the brink of death to walking around like nothing happened as easily as you can swing a sword."

"We could use someone like that up here. Do you think your healer friend would mind paying the wall a visit?"

"I can ask when I return to Winterfell, but I doubt the priestess will want to come this far north. Dark Elves don't like the cold very much."

"Dark Elves?" Mormont asked confused.

"I'll tell you later."

"Right. Why don't you go give Snow the news." He said to Tyrion.

* * *

**Yorren**

The wooden sword Arya was wielding was sent flying out of her hands as Yorren swung his down. "You still need to work on your grip." After the direwolf incident Arya had been furious and had thrown her things around her room in a tantrum. When Ned had gone to check on her he found a small thin sword in one of her bags. After questioning her he found that Jon had it made for her and she'd insisted on keeping it. Ned gave in on the condition she learn to use it so she didn't accidentally kill herself and he'd asked Yorren would be willing to teach her. He agreed.

"Last time you told me I held too tight!"

"You were. You need a middle ground between a death grip and barely holding it. Holding a sword that loose is a good way to be hit in the face with your own pommel." Arya huffed and picked up her sword, ready to go again. Yorren smiled. "My wife was right. You remind me a lot of my daughter back in Skyrim."

Arya propped herself up against her sword. "You have a daughter?"

"Lucia. She's adopted. I remember one time she'd been eyeing some of my swords so when I went to town for the day I told her explicitly not to touch them."

"Did she anyway?"

Yorren laughed. "Came back to find out she took one to go rabbit hunting and nearly cut her leg off."

"Were you mad?"

"Of course I was. But I decided like your father, that if she was going to use one she should know how to use it properly. So I trained her, and when I had to go off somewhere I'd take her to Jorrvaskr in Whiterun."

"To the Companions?" Arya asked visibly swelling with awe.

Yorren nodded. Ever since he'd first told her about the Companions Arya had been fascinated by them. She drank in every tale he told her barely even blinking as he told it. She always wanted to hear more about Skyrim's most famous and respected band of warriors when he'd finished. "Maybe one day you can visit Skyrim and see them for yourself." Despite Arya's excitement at the offer Yorren could see in her eyes that she was still depressed about her wolf. He'd seen that look in Lucia before. A fox kit followed her home once and she decided to keep it as a pet, until one day it simply wandered off never to be seen again. Yorren sighed. "Arya I need to tell you something, but you have to promise that you keep it between us alright?"

"I promise."

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Lady and Nymeria are safe. I had my men take them both back to Winterfell." She jumped up and hugged him. "No one but your father knows. You have to be sure that you don't tell anyone, not even Sansa."

She separated from him, tear running down her cheeks. "I can keep a secret. I swear it. By the old gods and the new." Yorren smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

Before their conversation could continue a female Imperial solider walked up to them and saluted Yorren. "Legate."

He returned the salute. "What is it?"

"Lady Stark and Tribune Valnnia have arrived in the city with urgent news. Lord Stark has already been informed and is on his way."

"Did they say what it was about?" She shook her head. Yorren turned to Arya who had a concerned look on her face. "Go back to your chambers." She nodded and scurried off and Yorren followed the solider.

* * *

Of all the places in the city Yorren was expecting to be lead, a brothel wasn't one of them. He paused before entering. It brought up many memories, few of them good. In his youth he'd been chased out of whore houses more times than he could count. He smiled to himself about it. It had been years before he'd come to Skyrim and got caught up in the dragon crisis and the war. He sighed and followed the soldier in, to see Littlefinger waiting for him. Yorren dismissed the solider and followed Littlefinger past several occupied rooms until they reached Littlefinger's private office. Namia rose to her feet and saluted when they walked in. He saw both Catelyn and Ned sitting on a couch with foreboding looks on their faces. "What's going on?" He asked Namia.

"Someone hired an assassin to kill Bran."

Yorren felt his stomach twist. "Is he alright?"

"Yes…" Catelyn said. "Thanks too… He was stopped before he could do anything…"

"The Lannisters tried to murder my son…" Ned said solemnly while staring at the floor.

"The assassin admitted to being hired by a Lannister when I questioned him and Lord Baelish says that the dagger used belonged to Tyrion Lannister."

"How do you know it was his dagger?" Yorren asked Littlefinger.

Ned handed him the dagger. "That used to belong to me until I lost it to the Imp in a bet." Littlefinger said as Yorren examined the blade. "I'd recognize it anywhere."

"I need to bring this to Robert." Ned said standing up.

"I wouldn't jump to that just yet." Littlefinger interjected. "Accusing the queen's brother could be considered an act of treason."

"But we have the proof!" Catelyn pleaded.

"Easily denied. Tyrion could simply say the dagger was stolen from him."

"But the assassin admitted to being hired by a Lannister."

"I think if the imp hired the assassin directly then he would have said so. He is a very recognizable person. More than likely Tyrion had a lowly house servant hire the assassin for him. Now he has plausible deniability."

"Or someone could be trying to mislead you." Namia said. Everyone looked at her. "No one sends an assassin with their personal weapon unless they are doing it to send a message; and there are better ways of doing that. I think someone stole the dagger and is trying to frame the Lannisters."

"I don't agree." Yorren finally said. "If the assassin had been successful then we would never have known who the blade belonged to."

"So we have nothing then?" Catelyn asked depressed.

"Tyrion should still be brought in for questioning." Yorren looked at Namia. "Not your type of questioning." He said before she could volunteer.

"My methods work." Namia huffed.

"We'll have to wait for him to return to Kings Landing." Ned stated.

"We have no idea how long that will take Ned!" Catelyn nearly shouted.

"If I send men after him it would be seen as an act of treason."

Catelyn looked on the verge of tears. "Fine. You're right… It's just…" Ned hugged her, cutting off her sentence.

"In the mean time I'll do whatever I can to help you find the truth." Littlefinger said to Ned and Catelyn.

"Thank you. You're a true friend." Catelyn said composing herself.

Littlefinger smiled. "Don't go around telling everyone. I have a reputation to keep. Now if you'll excuse me I have business to attend to." He bowed and left the room.

"He's hiding something. I know it." Namia said after a moment.

"Why do you say that?" Yorren asked.

"It's just a feeling."

"Just having a feeling isn't good enough Tribune. I'm sorry." She scowled at him, but said nothing further.

"He's like a little brother to me, Ned." Catelyn pleaded. "He would never betray me."

"My Lord, whatever you do… Be careful. And know you have the support of me and my men." Ned nodded. He and Catelyn stood and strode out of the room.

"Do you ever feel like you're just talking to a wall with them?" Namia asked after they'd left.

Yorren glared at her. "So what was so important that you needed to travel all the way here to tell me? Especially since I ordered you to stay in Winterfell."

Namia sighed. "I'll tell you when we're in private."

Yorren looked around. "We are in private."

"More so. It's very sensitive information. Can I come by your chambers later tonight to discuss it?"

Yorren sighed. "Alright." He wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever it was now anyway.

* * *

**Serana**

Serana was growing sick of hanging around Castle Black. The attention she was getting from several of men had amused her at first but now just grated on her nerves. At least they'd be leaving on this ranging soon. She went looking for Jon to tell him goodbye only to find him in a particularly foul mood. Apparently he'd wanted to go on the ranging as well but Benjen had forbidden it. He'd begged her to try and convince Benjen to let him go, but she refused. If the things beyond the wall were anything like she suspected, Jon would only end up killed…or worse.

"So what does a pair of bear's balls taste like?" Tyrion asked as Serana walked into the nearly empty dining hall.

"What kind of conversation did I just walk into?" She asked.

Tyrion and his friend, the Night Watch's recruiter Yoren laughed. "Your little friend and I were just talking about the strangest things we've eaten." Yoren said.

"Ah, I see." She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a rolled up letter. She held her hand out to Tyrion to take it. "Would you mind giving this to my husband when you get to the capital?"

"Why not just send a raven?" Tyrion asked.

"It's nothing urgent; didn't want to bother the maester."

Yoren held out his hand. "Might be safer with me. Tyrion could spill wine on it, or lose it in a whore's small clothes. You how he is."

"And here I thought we were friends." Tyrion scoffed in mock hurt.

"You're going to the capital as well?" Serana asked.

"Aye, that I am lass."

Serana smiled and laughed. "I think it would be better for you to do it." She handed Yoren the letter. "I just wish I could be there to see you two meet."

Yoren raised an eyebrow. "Anything I should know?"

"He's also named Yorren."

"Ah. I see." He laughed. "He look anything like me?"

"Eh." Serana squinted at him. "Not so much."

Tyrion laughed as Benjen walked in. "The nights watch is a joke to you is it?" He scolded. "Is that what we are? An army of jesters in black?"

"You don't have enough men to be an army and aside from Yoren here none of you are particularly funny." He quipped.

Benjen sat down next to Yoren. "I hope we've provided you with some good stories to tell when you're back in Kings Landing. It's something to think about while you're down there, enjoying you're brothels. Half the boys you've seen training will die north of the wall. Might be a wildlings axe that gets them, might be sickness, might just be the cold. They die in pain. And do it, so plump little lords like you can enjoy their summer afternoons in peace and comfort."

Tyrion looked at Yoren and Serana. "Do you two think I'm plump?" Serana chuckled as Yoren poured himself more wine. "Listen, Benjen… May I call you Benjen?"

"Call me what you like."

"I'm not sure what I've done to offend you. I have great admiration for the night's watch. I have great admiration for you as first ranger…"

Benjen started laughing. "You know my brother once told me, that nothing anyone says before the word 'but', really counts."

"…But… I don't believe that giants and ghouls and white walkers are lurking beyond the walls." Everyone grimaced as Tyrion continued. "I believe that the only difference between us and the wildlings is that when that wall went up, that our ancestors happened to live on the right side of it."

"You're right. The wildlings are no different from us. A little rougher maybe, but they're made of meat, and bone. I know how to track 'em and I know how to kill 'em. It's not the wildlings that are giving me sleepless nights. You've never been north of the wall, so don't tell me what's out there." With that Benjen rose from the bench and said his goodbyes to Yoren before turning to Serana. "We leave within the hour." She nodded and he walked out.

"I think he's starting to like me." Tyrion joked. "I suppose our time together is at an end then." He said to Serana.

"I suppose it is."

He sighed. "Shame. I rather enjoyed your company. I hope to see you again in one piece."

"So do I. Try not to get yourself into too much trouble on the road."

Tyrion laughed. "But where's the fun in that."

She smiled as she walked out.

Serana slowly made her way the main gate in the wall where eight horses were saddled and waiting. She wondered if what she was doing was truly a wise idea. If the walkers were real and were servants of Bal then she wasn't exactly eager to meet them. She wasn't eager to meet them regardless either way though, but if they were servants of Bal then she would likely be the only one that would the slightest idea of how to deal with them.

Benjen and his other six rangers eventually arrived and mounted their horses. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Once we go through those gates there's no turning back." He asked her.

"I'm sure."

With that Benjen nodded to the gate operator. The gate slowly rose and the party of seven began their ride north of the wall.

* * *

**Yorren**

It had been several hours judging by the deep red-orange glow coming from the sun. Yorren sat back in his chair and stared out at the sun as it slowly fell below the horizon. He'd been lost in thought for most of the time he'd sat in his chambers. He was wondering why Namia had jumped to conspiracy so quickly. She'd never seemed the paranoid type before, but then again he didn't really know her that well either. After thinking about it for most of the day however, he also started to doubt that Tyrion had any involvement, but he would hold off making an opinion until Tyrion had been questioned. He was also growing impatient at how long it was taking Namia to show up. She hadn't given him a time frame except for 'later tonight' so he hadn't bothered to send for her yet.

Once the sun had almost completely set he rose from his chair and summoned a tiny gout of fire in his palm and used it to light several candles throughout the room. Magic had never been his area of expertise. He could cast a few simple destruction and healing spells, but they would be useless in a fight or to heal anything more substantial than minor cuts and scrapes. Several more minutes pass and the sun had fully set leaving the candles as the only things lighting the room. Yorren rubbed his temples in frustration. He wanted to solely focus on getting back to Skyrim and hoped to the gods that Namia was wrong to think that Tullius had betrayed them, but he also needed to help the Starks find out who tried to murder Bran. What kind of sick bastard throws a child out a window then hires an assassin to cut his throat while he's comatose? Yorren was starting to get a headache. He missed Serana; were she here she could have comforting words to sooth him or a smart ass remark to make him laugh. Either way his mind would be off these things. He half hoped the Namia wouldn't show up and he could just drink some ale and pass out so his damned headache would go away. He turned around again and froze. Leaning against a wall was a woman dressed in form fitting black and red leather, twirling a dagger between her fingers.

"**FUS RO DAH!**"

"**FEIM!**'

Yorren's Unrelenting Force shout ripped through his chambers but when it hit the wall the woman's now ghostly figure remained unharmed. As she rematerialized Yorren grabbed a dagger and rushed her, pinning her to the wall and pressing the dagger to her throat. "Who are you!? How do you know how to shout!?" He demanded.

"Relax. I only want to talk." She said calmly.

"Fine. Then start talking." He replied pressing the blade tighter to her throat.

"Look in my eyes Yorren. You know who I am."

He stared into her eyes. Bright silver. He did a double take. The only people who had eyes like that were him and… He ripped her cowl off. "Namia! What… What in Oblivion… What the fuck is going on!?"

"I'll explain… Just calm down and we'll talk."

* * *

**Next time: Yorren punches the king.**

**On another note though I've had some people complain about the Whiterun chapter in both reviews and PMs. So I'll set the record straight for everyone. The two plot lines WILL coincide later on in the story. They are relevant. Some people from Westeros will be going to Skyrim and vice versa. I won't tell you who, but it will happen.**

**Thanks again to everyone who's read and enjoyed the story so far! You guys are awesome. : )**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's at last done! It was supposed to be done around this time last month but as I said in my profile update I had some major computer issues, but they've been fixed and everything is up and running the way it should be. So here you go. Enjoy!**

* * *

Yorren slammed her head into the wall and returned the dagger to her throat. "You're damned right you will. You, Dark Brotherhood…" He almost laughed. "And give me one good reason why I should calm down. So you can stab me in the back as soon as it's turned?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. Not talking to me."

He sighed. She did have a point, and Yorren slowly withdrew the dagger. Namia made no attempt to move. "If you move gods help me…"

"Yes, yes, you'll kill me where I stand." She rolled her eyes. "May I sit?" She motioned to one of the upturned chairs. Yorren said nothing and simply glared. "I'll take that as yes then." She righted the chair and sat down with her hands folded in her lap. "I'll bet you have a lot of questions so I'll help you out a bit."

"Go on." Yorren said still standing, dagger in hand.

"Well… How do I know how to shout..? Well…"

She was playing games with him. Yorren had to fight the urge to stab her then and be done with it. "I'm short on patience…"

"Fine. I'm Dragonborn, just like you."

Yorren lifted her out of the chair and repined her to the wall. "Don't play games with me!" He held the blade of the dagger against the underside of her jaw.

She swallowed hard. "I'm not playing games!"

"I think the Stormcloaks would have made a big deal of it if they had a Dragonborn with them, more so if they'd lost one."

"They didn't know. I was just another daughter of Skyrim to them."

"Then why did you betray them?"

"Because of you." Yorren pressed the knife closer. "I was stationed in Dawnstar. I saw you. When you delivered those forged documents. After you left I deserted."

"How did you know those were forged?"

Namia laughed. "Are you kidding me? Those were the worst forgeries I'd ever seen." Yorren wasn't laughing. "I deserted because I refused to fight my twin brother."

Namia winced as Yorren cut into her skin, causing a small trickle of blood to run down her neck. "Lie to me one more time… One. More. Time."

"I'm not lying." She said through gritted teeth. "Please just listen. I know you're worried about Lucia." Yorren's grip on his dagger tightened. "You're my brother. She's your daughter. Like it or not she and I are family. I'd never hurt her. In fact I sent one of my best to watch over her." Yorren pressed the knife deeper into her throat. "This is getting old you know." Yorren didn't respond. "Look if you're going to kill me just do it already! Enough with these theatrics! Or put the fucking knife down and hear me out."

Yorren tensed for a moment before withdrawing the knife. "Fine. Explain why you'd let my killing an entire sanctuary go."

"Astrid and her lot were not Dark Brotherhood in anything but name. When the… When some of the higher ups in the organization and I came to them our reception was less than warm so to speak. Some of them came to us but Astrid didn't want what she saw as a challenge to her leadership running around. She tried to have us killed more than once. I would have wiped them out if you hadn't beaten me to it."

Yorren thought on her words. What could she possibly gain from all this? She could have easily killed him by now. Was it some sick game? Was it some kind of power play? It was taking everything he had not to kill her, and she was letting it happen. He grabbed her face and pulled her to his so that they were nearly touching. He stared into her eyes, into her very being until he saw them. Dovah, over a dozen of them. He released her and stepped back. "You're… You're telling the truth… But how?"

"I think the how's kinda obvious, isn't it." She was met with another glare. "Alright, not funny." She sighed. "I was at the orphanage with you until we were about six or seven. Don't you remember?"

Yorren thought for a moment. "I vaguely remember being friends with a girl there. That was you?" She nodded. "You got adopted."

Namia laughed. "Is that what they told everyone? No. They had too many girls, so they sold us off to a place in the Imperial City. It was a brothel in the slums…" Her face twisted in disgust. "The things they did… I escaped once and ran to the guards and well… They just sent me right back there. That's why when I heard of Ulfric's rebellion I ran to Skyrim as soon as I could. I wanted to hurt the Empire, until I saw you."

"Until you saw me… You gave up all your hate for the Empire for someone you thought was your brother…"

"I didn't think; I knew you were my brother. And I did get my revenge on the Empire. It just didn't turn out the way I expected…"

Yorren eyed her suspiciously. "What are you saying?"

Namia smirked. "You'll want to kill me again if I told you."

"You killed the Emperor. Didn't you?" Yorren asked tensing his hand around the dagger.

"I'd really hate to be you right now with all your emotions flying all over the place…"

At this point Yorren lost control of himself and swung his fist at Namia, striking her in the face before following up with a punch to her gut. Namia recovered quicker than he expected and kicked out his left knee and tackled him to the ground. Namia tried to pin her knee against Yorren's throat but was thrown off to the side. Yorren righted himself and punched Namia in the face. Namia rolled out of the way of a second punch and kneed Yorren in the side of the head. As he recoiled Namia scrambled onto his back and attempted to restrain Yorren in a headlock. She underestimated Yorren's strength as he grabbed her arms, stood up and slammed backwards into the wall. Once her grip on his neck had loosened he thew her over his head and into the chair she'd previously been sitting in, shattering it. Namia turned over just in time for Yorren to try to grab her again and as hard as she could kicked him in the groin. Yorren stopped himself from hitting the ground only to have Namia then head-butt him in the face. Before he could recover Namia swiftly kicked him in the side of the head, dropping him.

Namia rolled to her side and moaned. "You done?" She asked panting before spitting out blood. "Got that all out of your system?" Yorren only groaned. "Look. If it hadn't been me it would have been someone else. He knew what was coming. He welcomed me. I gave him a clean and painless death. He died with dignity. I even honored his last wish and killed the man who ordered his assassination!"

"You honor-less bitch." Yorren spat. "It makes perfect sense now why you wanted the emperor displaced. You wanted to take power for yourself."

Namia winced in pain from laughing. "I thrive in the shadows; being the most powerful person in Tamriel kinda goes against that. No. I wanted you in power. You, because you're respected, you have military experience, and among other reasons you don't have your head stuck quite as far up your damned ass as the last half dozen emperors."

Yorren righted himself and leaned against the wall but said nothing.

"And don't even get me started on honor…" She continued. "You're no different than me. You and your Companions are nothing but a glorified band of mercenaries and thugs."

"The Companions help people! We don't go around slitting people's throats in the middle of the night."

"No you run at them screaming your head off, flailing a weapon over your head like a savage."

"At least it gives them a chance to defend themselves."

"And then what? They kill you? So now someone else has to go and finish the job? All you've done now is add to the death toll. It's inefficient and sloppy."

"Inefficient? You're talking like they're not even people!"

"Everyone dies Yorren. It's just a matter of how and when. Your honor will only cause more bloodshed. Which is better? To slit the throats of a few people while they sleep or to have thousands die in bloody battles? You're a soldier. You know what war is like. If you could have ended the Civil War like that would you have? If you could have prevented all those battles that cost thousands of lives would you have stooped to my level? Would you sacrifice your personal honor for the greater good?"

Yorren didn't what to admit it to her but she was right. He would have done it in an instant. "This is pointless. I never had that option. Hypotheticals are a waste of time."

"Pfft. Hypotheticals are some of the most important questions. Just ask any philosopher." Namia smirked.

"You could have ended it like that. You didn't."

"You forget I WANTED the Stormcloaks to win at first. And I never said I was a good person. I accept what I am. I'm an assassin and a thief; and I'm damn good at both. I can even cast a few spell if you didn't notice. I don't lie to myself about what I am. Unlike you."

"I'm no assassin!"

"Oh!" She scoffed. "Really now? Why don't we just go ask our good friend Elenwen then?"

The color drained from his face. "How..? How did you find out about that?"

"Um hello? I'm the listener for the Dark Brotherhood." She said almost mockingly. "Do you really think that someone can kill the Thalmor ambassador to Skyrim in her own embassy and I wouldn't find out who did it?" She laughed. "So what's your excuse? How does your honor justify that?" Yorren fist clenched but he remained silent. He'd managed to dig himself into hole and had no desire to dig himself deeper. "That's what I thought. You and I aren't so different."

"She deserved what she got…" He muttered through clenched teeth.

"Oh really now. According to whom? You? Is murder now okay if the person was bad? Tell me, how many bandits have you killed? Dozens? Hundreds even? Is it justifiable to kill them just because someone decided that they deserved it? How many of them had a family that will never see them again? Does your honor make you ever stop to think about their loss?"

"Don't you DARE try to tell me about loss!" His face turned red. "You didn't spend five years as a slave in the arena! You didn't have wonder each week if you'd have to kill or be killed by someone you called a friend! Don't you dare… I know damn well know what it means to kill. I've killed more than you, and you're right. I do enjoy it. I had to learn to. I didn't have the luxury of having the people I killed just be a name on a piece of paper." He sat down and looked up at Namia. "When you've looked into the eyes of a family of some hot head you just killed because he thought he could win a sack of gold and a name for himself then you can lecture me on the consequences of killing."

"Yorren I…"

"Get out! You've said what you came for so just go!"

"I'm sorry."

"I know…" He looked to see Namia was gone.

* * *

"You wanted to see me my Lord?" Yorren asked as he entered Ned's chambers in the Tower of the Hand.

"Yes, I… By the gods what happened to you?" Ned stared mouth agape at Yorren's cut and bruised face. He'd used a minor healing spell after Namia left the night before but his lack of skill only allowed him to partially complete it.

"I got into a… heated discussion with someone over a personal issue. They have been dealt with."

Ned simply shook his head. "I have a favor to ask of you. Would you be able to lend some of your men to the city watch?"

"I didn't bring many with me, and we're soldiers, not city guards."

"I know. It would only be until this gods damned tourney is over."

"Alright, I'll see who I can spare."

"Thank you, though I must ask that you not assign any of your woman soldiers. I fear they wouldn't be taken seriously and only make keeping the peace more difficult."

"You obviously haven't seen any of them fight."

"I have, but Westeros is a very different land than where you come from."

"I'm aware. I have no doubt in my mind that my soldiers, all of them, are far more capable fighters than any gold cloak."

Ned leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "If you feel they are capable enough then fine. I just want this whole thing over with. Damn Robert." Ned stood from his chair. "I also wanted to ask you about Tribune Valnnia remaining here."

"She's offered to help with investigating what happened to Bran. She's… good at this sort of thing."

"Has she found anything yet?"

"Nothing definitive, no." He wasn't about to tell Ned that Namia suspected Littlefinger yet. While Ned trusted him, he suspected that Ned would favor Catelyn's trust of Littlefinger over his suspicions. Yorren would have to wait until Namia found anything more tangible. He also wasn't sure whether to trust Namia or not after she'd revealed her Dark Brotherhood association. Yorren spied the book Ned had been reading, _The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms_. "Doing some light reading?"

"Jon Arryn was reading it when he died. 'The seed is strong', he said. Over and over again."

"Do you think the book had something to do with his death?"

"It's possible. Jon also sought out one of Robert's bastards in the city; a blacksmith's apprentice. But he didn't ask the boy anything of importance."

"I'm assuming that Lord Arryn didn't keep a journal did he?"

Ned shook his head. "Were it so easy." He slouched and covered his face in his hands. "They have to be related. The Lannisters killed Jon Arryn and they tried to kill Bran. But how? Why?"

"Perhaps the Lannisters wish to usurp the throne?"

Ned shook his head. "The crown prince is of Lannister blood. Why would they usurp their own family?" He sighed deeply. "Perhaps I'm just tired."

Yorren studied Ned's face and took note of the dark circles beginning to form around his eyes. "Perhaps you're right. My lord if I may be blunt it might be best to stop looking at this for now. Focus on the more immediate matters. If the two are related Tribune Valnnia will find out."

"Would you mind looking through it?" Ned asked tapping the book. "I've been staring at this gods damned thing for hours. A fresh pair of eyes would help."

"I can, but I don't think it will help. If we don't even know what it is that Jon Arryn was looking for in that book we could pass right over it and not even know."

Ned nodded. "You're right. I suppose this can wait until Tribune Valnnia has found anything." He closed the book and leaned backing his chair. "The faster this gods damned tourney is over with the better. What do you think of all this nonsense?"

"Men on horses hitting each other in the face with big sticks?" Yorren shook his head. "Not my thing really."

Ned chuckled. "It's getting late and I suppose I should actually appear at the tourney tomorrow. It is supposed to be in my honor after all."

"I suppose I should be there as well. If that will be all my lord?" Ned nodded and Yorren turned and walked out.

* * *

Robert let out a deep guttural laugh as he poured himself more wine. He held out the bottle to offer some to Yorren.

He shook his head. "Haven't finished the last one yet."

"Not a wine man ay?"

"I prefer ale. Wine is too sweet."

"Bah! You haven't lived until you've tried Dornish wine. I should have that gods damned useless squire fetch some." He sank into his chair with a sigh. "You Skyrim folks are a strange lot you know?"

"How so?"

"I heard about the tavern fight some of your soldiers broke up last night. Heard one of your women broke a table with a man's face when he swung at her."

"Will them serving on the city watch be a problem your Grace?"

Robert laughed. "Seven hells boy the kingdoms could use more women like that. And if you call me your Grace one more damned time I'll have you tongue ripped out you hear?" Yorren chuckled. "But I still don't understand why you sent you wife to the wall. Are you mad or something?"

"I didn't send her, she wanted to go."

"Bah! The wall is full cretins, lowlifes, criminals. No place for a woman, don't care what she's capable of."

"Well you did say we were a strange lot." Robert snorted. "Now if you don't mind my asking, why did you call me here?"

Robert leaned forward. "Ned and I have been friends, brothers even since we were boys. I've never known the man to keep secrets about anything, but he's been awful tight lipped about you. He's told me about the indecent with his banner men, but not much else."

Yorren set his glass down. "Lord Stark is a cautious man."

"Aye, that he is; sometimes too cautious for his own good."

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

"What exactly was a ship full of highly trained soldiers and witches doing sailing so close to my kingdom in the first place?"

"Suspicious of our motives?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

Yorren laughed. "Yes I would." His expression hardened. "My country is about to erupt into a bloody war that's been building for decades, assuming it hasn't already. The emperor is a weak boy with no leadership skills to speak of and the Elder Council… Well they had a hand in assassinating the last emperor. The Empire will die under their rulership."

"I see. So you and your men were going to the capital to take care of the problematic rulers?"

"Yes. But we were ambushed. Two of the ships were destroyed and a third went missing. We were blown far off course and to put it the way the ship's navigator did, 'sailed so far north that north became south'. We just kept going until we crashed into the shore."

Robert nodded, seemingly satisfied with that. "But what about you and your… witches… mages… whatever you bloody well call them?"

"Well in Tamriel magic is really a mundane thing. I realize for your people it must be completely alien, but it's second nature for most where I come from."

"I haven't seen any of your men doing that thing you do with your voice."

"Ah that. Well, you could say that I'm a bit of a legend where I come from. It's called the Thu'um and I'm one the first two people in centuries to be born with that power. No one knows for sure why some are born with it and others aren't. Some scholars think it's bloodlines, others think it's handed down by the gods during times of need. But they do know that the founder of the Empire, Tiber Septim had that power over six hundred years ago."

"So you may be related to him then?" Robert poured more wine. "Then I rise a glass to fellow royalty!" He downed the glass and poured more. "So then what's with your family name? Frostborn is it?"

"Well we don't have bastard names where I come from, but I suppose mine would be as close as you'd get."

Robert leaned forward. "Go on."

"I wasn't born or raised in Skyrim. I was born in Cyrodiil, the heart of the Empire. I spent half my life in an orphanage, they told me that my father died in the war and my mother couldn't deal with his loss and left me in the dead of night. I was one of the only Nords there, so the other children called me 'Frostborn' to tease me. I hated it. But one night I snuck out with a few friends only to return to find the orphanage in flames."

Robert spat. "What kind of bastard burns down and orphanage?"

"A drunken mage who thought it was a brothel. No one made it out. I took the name Frostborn as a way to honor their memories. They were the only family I had."

Robert held up his drink. "A toast to their memories."

"Aye." Both men drank.

Robert began laughing after he finished his latest glass. "Ah Ned, always worrying over nothing…" Both of them looked at the entrance to the tent when they heard a commotion outside. Robert stood up. "About bloody time you showed up!" He bellowed as a blonde boy in leather armor and a red cloak, no older than twenty ran into the tent with several pieces of plate armor spilling out of his arms.

"Sorry! Your grace…" He said exhausted.

"Just get on with it." Robert sighed as he stripped off his overshirt.

The boy who Yorren assumed was his squire almost comically attempted to put Robert's armor on him. "It's made too small, your grace. It won't go." He said after several minutes of failed attempts.

Robert shot him a dirty look. "Your mother was a dumb whore with a fat ass! Did you know that?" His squire looked somewhere between hurt and furious, but kept his mouth shut. Robert then noticed Ned walking into the tent. "Look at this idiot! One ball and no brains. Can't even put a man's armor on."

Ned looked Robert up and down for a moment. "You're too fat for your armor." Yorren gulped down the rest of his wine in one drink.

"Fat? Fat is it? Is this how you speak to your king?" Ned shrugged as Robert glared at him before the two men burst out in laughter. Robert's squire let out a small timid laugh.

"That was funny, is it?" Robert stopped laughing stared at the boy.

"No, Your Grace."

"No? You don't like the Hand's joke?" His squire paled.

"You're torturing the poor boy."

"You heard the Hand. The King's too fat for his armor. Go find the breastplate stretcher now!" Robert let out a deep laugh as his squire fled from the room.

"The breastplate stretcher?"

"How long before he figures it out?

"Maybe you should have one invented. What are you doing putting that on anyway?"

"I'm going to a match in the joust. What do you think I'm going to do?"

"You don't belong there Robert. You're the king, not a soldier anymore."

"Dammit Ned I want to hit something!"

"There's not a man alive in the seven kingdoms who'd dare strike you."

"Are you saying they'd let me win?"

"I'll fight you." Ned and Robert looked up at Yorren as he walked over to them. "I'm not much for jousting, but if you want to hit something I'll fight you in melee. One on one."

"And what? You'll let me win as well?"

Yorren shook his head. "You're not my king. I've no reason to fear beating you combat."

"You'd best not be playing games with me."

"A Nord never backs down from a fight."

Robert stood mere inches away from Yorren. "You're on boy. I'll knock your ass into the ground."

Yorren smirked. "I look forward to seeing how the great Robert Baratheon fares against the best sword in Skyrim. This is of course assuming you get your armor on. Wouldn't be very fair otherwise." He stepped back a few feet. "Your grace. My lord." He then bowed his head and left the tent.

* * *

Yorren stood in the middle of a circular arena dressed in his dragonbone armor. He guessed the arena about one hundred feet wide. More than wide enough, but it was the king he was going to fight so the arena had to be made grand. A pit half the size would have been fine. A young boy ran up to him carrying a sheathed greatsword. Yorren frowned when he inspected it. It was iron not steel, blunted with a rounded tip, unbalanced, and had multiple rust spots. He understood them not wanting him to accidentally kill Robert, but this was ridicules.

After a few minutes of pacing he saw Robert enter the arena. Yorren's surprise that Robert managed to fit in his armor quickly went away as the king walked closer to him. The breastplate was not his; in fact it look as though someone had found the largest one they could and did their best to refit it to Robert's shape in the two hours since Yorren had made the challenge. Chainmail rather than plate covered his arms and legs. In fact the only piece of Robert's actual armor that he wore was his signature antlered Baratheon helm. As it was the helm looked as though it could fly off at any time with the toughs of his beard sticking out in every which way.

Ser Barristan Selmy handed Robert his Warhammer. "I highly advise against this your grace." He said.

"Piss off." Robert grunted back before lowering the face mask on his helm. He gave the hammer a few test swings and after he was satisfied he walked up to Yorren. Without warning he lifted the hammer and sung it down at Yorren's head, but Yorren jumped backwards and the hammer impacted the ground with dull thud. Robert lifted the hammer again, this time swinging it to the side, only for Yorren to dance out its way once more. Twice more Robert swung at Yorren and twice more he missed. "Come on! You promised me a real fight! Not this prancing around horse shit!"

Yorren smiled. "I thought I'd give you a warm up." Yorren quickly wrapped his left hand around the blade of his sword and thrust it into Robert's shoulder, losing his grip on his hammer. Before Robert could react Yorren then swung the hilt of his sword through the air striking Robert in the head with his crossguard.

Robert stumbled backwards before laughing. "Yes! That's what I'm talking about! I haven't had a true fight in ages!" He righted himself and charged. He swung his hammer down at Yorren from above again only this time Yorren stopped the swing, catching the hammer in his sword's crossguard. He twisted his sword to the ground, throwing Robert's hammer down with it, pulled Robert in, and hit him with his elbow to Robert's throat. Robert however was heavier than Yorren expected and didn't go down. He'd dropped his hammer but the two were still struggling to grab the other and pin them. The struggle ended with Robert kicking Yorren in the back of his knee, causing him to drop his sword and sending him to the ground. Robert quickly grabbed his hammer and tried to hit Yorren in the back. Yorren rolled out of the way but as he tried to stand, Robert successfully made contact with Yorren's shoulder, sending him tumbling backwards.

It took Yorren a second to reorient himself after the hit. He'd had the wind knocked out of him, but hos armor was strong enough to take it. He saw Robert charging for him again, his hammer up in the air. Yorren leapt to his feet and charged Robert in turn. He ducked down and slammed into Robert, sending him falling backward. Robert was stunned but not out so Yorren scrambled to pick up his sword. He could have tried to wrench Robert's hammer out of his hands, but he had a dead like grip on it. Yorren had picked up his sword and turned to see that Robert had recovered faster than he'd expected as was swinging the hammer at him. He jumped out of the way but this time Robert reversed the swing drove the spike on the back of his hammer in between Yorren's pauldron and chestplate. The spike pierced through the chainmail below it and into Yorren's shoulder.

Yorren felt a sharp stab of pain course through his arm and upper chest and a small trickle of blood ran down his arm as Robert withdrew the hammer. Play time was over. Robert once again raised his hammer but Yorren lunged at him, driving his sword into Robert's chestplate. It didn't pierce through, but leave a noticeable dent. Before Robert could recover, Yorren was arching his sword around and brought it down on Robert's neck. Again the dulled blade did little more than dent the plate, but Robert was down on his knees. Yorren then struck Robert between in shoulders with his sword's pommel, sending him falling face first into the dirt. Robert rolled onto his back and swung his hammer at Yorren's sword knocking it aside. Robert stood up as Yorren stabbed his sword into the gap under Robert's chestplate, but Robert grabbed the sword and swung his hammer into Yorren's injured shoulder. Yorren doubled back and Robert swung his hammer in a downward arch again. Yorren tried to catch the swing but Robert's hammer smashed into the blade of his sword, shattering it. Yorren charged at Robert, grappling him again. Rather than trying to wrench Robert's hammer from him, Yorren began punching him. He punched Robert in the chest several times until he started to double over, only to then throw a punch under his chin. When Robert had been disoriented Yorren drove him elbow into Robert's causing his grip on his hammer to loosen. Another hit to his elbow had his hammer on the ground. Yorren kicked out one of Robert's knees and proceeded to throw him to the ground.

As Robert tumbled into the dirt Yorren retrieved his hammer. When Robert began to stand up Yorren swung the hammer upwards at Robert's head. The impact severed one the antlers from the helm and sent it flying into the air, leaving Robert a crumpled lump on the ground.

* * *

**Well someone's in deep shit now aren't they?**

**I know I haven't really been good at updating often, but I'm going to try my best to get this next chapter out quickly. I've already got some work**** done**** on the next one, so here's hoping. Anyway sorry again the long delay. Thanks for reading!**

**Next time: Serana kills people and Yorren meets Yoren.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The things I had to do to get my beta reader to look at this... Terrible, terrible things...**

**Anyway enjoy!**

* * *

"Shit" Yorren muttered to himself once he'd calmed down from his battle high. He hadn't meant to actually injure Robert, just hit him a few times until he yielded. He certainly hadn't wanted to kill him. Yorren slowly scanned around the arena while retightening his grip on Robert's hammer. The faces of nearly everyone were a mix anger and shock. The two that stood out though were Ser Barristan Selmy, who simply looked disappointed, and Queen Cersei, whose look of shock quickly changed to a sly smirk. The Kingsguard collectively looked to her as she rose from her seat. Before she could speak however a pained groan came from behind Yorren. He turned to see Robert struggling to get to his feet. Yorren rushed over to his side. As Robert slowly turned over onto his back, Yorren saw blood running down his face from the top of his head and readied a healing spell. It wasn't much but it had the bleeding stopped by the time the Kingsguard rushed over.

Yorren felt both of his arms being grabbed and he was forced to his feet by two of the Kingsguard as the rest surrounded Robert. They attempted to lift him to his feet, but Robert flailed out of their grip and fell to the ground again. After a second attempt they were about to hold him up and half carry, half drag him away. The two Kingsguard holding Yorren started to drag him off as well before Robert started groggily babbling to them. "Let 'im go…"

"Your Grace?" They asked.

"I said let him go!" Then he babbled more unintelligible words, presumably insults to the Kingsguard as they begrudgingly shoved Yorren away. Robert once again fell over and started laughing uncontrollably as he did.

One of the two Kingsguard that had been holding Yorren walked up to him and growled, "We'll be watching you. If the king dies, so do you." He walked off with the other Kingsguard who were attempting to preserve what little dignity Robert had left as they dragged him away. Once Robert had been dragged away the arena slowly began to empty out.

Yorren stood in the center still, watching them leave and noting the Cersei had vanished before everyone had started leaving. He thought about her smirk and the fact that she had taken a rapid hatred of him and his soldiers. No doubt she'd hoped that the Kingsguard would have killed him on the spot. Yorren sighed. Ned would be furious with him no doubt, but he would be able to defuse the situation. He'd talked his way out of worse. It was Cersei that worried him. He had a feeling that Cersei was far more dangerous than anyone in King's Landing realized, and she now likely had a personal grudge against him.

* * *

**Serana**

It had been nearly a week since Serana had left with Benjen and his ranging party. She wasn't sure what she had expected when they left but it had so far been a week of dull, slow horseback riding through the same frozen over forest. She'd have sworn that they were lost, it all looked the same, but Benjen was adamant that he knew these forests better than anyone and that he knew where he was going. Where that was he wouldn't say.

She sat up against a tree in their camp with her eyes closed, pretending to sleep. While it would appear to any onlookers that no one in the camp was on watch, she was still acutely alert to anything that came too close. It had taken several days for Benjen and his group to let her take watch by herself, but after she'd shown that she was more than capable of handling it they relented. She suspected that the fact that she hadn't slept the whole time and had no fatigue to show for it unnerved them. She would need to sleep eventually, but not for at least a few more days.

The cold had initially bothered her but she'd quickly adapted and wore only her armor; repeating declining the offers of large fur cloaks. It was another thing that likely unnerved Benjen's group. Serana smirked at the thought. While these men had no doubt seen plenty of unnatural things beyond the Wall, having one of those things so constantly close was new.

She was brought out of her musing when she heard human footsteps off in the distance. Her eyes snapped open as she counted them. Four. None of Benjen's party had stirred. These people were good at sneaking up on other human's, not good enough to sneak up on a vampire. She smiled at the thought of hunting them down and licked her fangs. She cloaked herself in the shadows and became all but invisible. The silhouette of her body could still be seen, but unless she was being actively searched for she'd still been able to walk right past people unnoticed.

She wasn't taking any chances though as snuck around in a large circle, before coming up behind them with her dagger already drawn. They wore thick white and grey furs and carried weapons made from rusted iron and bones, and they smelled funny. She was surprised to see a woman in the group, but she figured that the wildlings obviously wouldn't adhere to the traditions of the rest of the country. She stopped suddenly when a fifth wildling appeared out of the foliage. They were better than she'd thought.

"The woman that was with them…" He panted. "Some kind of witch… Disappeared right before my eyes…"

"Shit…" Serana muttered to herself. She quietly readied a lightning spell in her other hand and before any of the wildlings could react ended her invisibility spell by slashing the throat of the closest wildling. He fell the ground before he could register the attack had happened, staining the snow a bright crimson. Just as the rest of the group was turning to see what had happened Serana shot a lightning bolt directly into the chest of another of the attackers. The wildlings quickly drew their weapons, but Serana was faster. She grabbed the female wildling and threw her into one of the others while the fifth one charged her with his knife drawn. Serana dodged his slashes then grabbed his knife arm and twisted it. The man yelled when his arm broke with a sickening crack, only to be silenced when Serana drove her knife into his throat.

The last two wildlings were getting up as Serana calmly made her way over to them. She kicked the male in the face and grabbed the woman and lifted her up by her shoulders and pinned her against a tree. She was tired of drinking bottled animal blood and smiled as she bit into the woman's neck. Serana ignored the woman's screams as her deliciously warm blood spilled out of her neck. Serana drank vigorously with the woman's blood dripping out of the corners of her mouth. It had been far too long since she'd a proper meal and she wasn't going to waste it. When the woman's screams faded and she had stopped flailing, Serana dropped her to the ground, her skin now almost the same color as the snow.

She looked at the last of the wildlings as he simply stared in a mix of horror and rage. After hearing another noise Serana turned around to see Benjen's party standing several yards back with similar faces as the wildling. "What?" She asked and shrugged. "I had everything under control."

Benjen nodded towards the last wildling. "Bind him. He might have information." Two of his party walked towards the wildling who put up no struggle against them, keeping his eyes fixed on Serana.

He spat as they dragged him past. "To hell with you bloody crows! Siding with the very thing you put that fucking wall up to keep out!" One of the rangers punched him in the mouth. "May the walkers take you all…"

Benjen walked up to Serana. "What in seven hells was that about? You should have woken us!"

"I told you I had it handled."

He moved closer to her. "And what…" He looked to the body of the woman, "What did you do to her?"

"I fed. Does that bother you?" Benjen bit his lip nervously. "You knew what I was before we left."

"He won't talk now because of what you did." Benjen said flatly.

"Would he have otherwise?"

Benjen sighed. "Likely not."

"Look. You may not like it but I can make him talk. Vampires have ways of making people cooperative."

"After what you did I doubt he will cooperate regardless of what you think."

Serana chuckled. "You have no idea the things I can do." Benjen made a face that told Serana that she was right and that he was afraid to find out what those things were. "Just trust me." Benjen sighed and relented. The two walked over to where the wildling had been tied. He made no remarks this time and spat at their feet. Serana smiled. "Hold him." She said to the rangers standing by him. Benjen nodded an affirmative and they did.

Serana then knelt by the wildling and drew her dagger. His eyes grew wide in fear for a moment before Serana drew the dagger across her own hand. "You should make this easier for everyone and just hold still." She told him before lunging at him shoving her hand in his mouth. He tried to bite her and struggle free, but the rangers had him in too strong of a grip. Once Serana was satisfied at the amount she'd bled into his mouth she withdrew her hand and forced his mouth shut. He tried to spit her blood out but it was to no avail again. After a moment he began thrashing about and coughing violently to the point where he nearly did manage to break free of the rangers' grip. "Hold him I said!" Before they could react the wildling slammed into one of the rangers, throwing him down. Serana leapt onto him and pinned him to the ground, holding her elbow against his neck. With her free hand she forced his eyes open and stared directly into them. Her own eyes began glow more intensely and her pupils dilated. After a few moments the wildling stopped trashing and stared blankly back at her. Serana climbed off him and turned to Benjen and his rangers who had been watching this event with a mix of confusion and fear. "Cut him loose."

"What!?" One of them shouted. "We just tied him up and now she wants us to free him?"

"He's no threat to you now. He'll do anything I tell him to."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Just trust me."

"After what you did to them back there?" He motioned to pile of dead wildlings. "You're some kind of monster!"

"That's enough!" Benjen shouted. "Both of you." He rubbed his temples. "Cut him loose. I think we can handle one wildling."

"It ain't the wildling I'm worried about…" The ranger grumbled as he cut the binding he'd just placed off the wildling's hands, before slowly backing away. The wildling made no attempt to get up. "Now how do we know he'll do what you say?"

Serana smiled and handed her knife to the wildling. Benjen and his party all gripped their weapons in anticipation. Serana ignored them. "Stab yourself in the hand don't make a sound." The rangers stared in shock as with barely a second's hesitation the wildling plunged the dagger into his left hand. His fingers twitched and blood sprayed the snow, but he made not a sound. Serana held her hands out towards him. "Ask away."

Benjen looked down at the wildling. "Why have the raids against the wall become more frequent?" He didn't answer. "Why are all your villages empty?" He was again met with a blank stare. He glared at Serana.

"Answer him." Serana scolded, much in the way one would scold a child caught sneaking sweets.

"The king has gathered all the clans together. Says he's preparing for war."

"I thought the wildlings didn't have a king." Serana stated.

"Mance Rayder. The king beyond the wall." Benjen replied. "He was one of us once, but he turned his back on the watch over a decade ago." He returned his gaze to the enthralled wildling. "War with whom, the Night's Watch?" The wildling nodded. "The clans hate each other, why have the clans agreed to follow him?"

"Because winter is coming."

"What does that mean?" Serana asked.

"The White Walkers and their army of the dead march the king told the clams that if we didn't march on the wall, they would kill us and raise our bodies to join their ranks."

"And the clans believed him?" Benjen asked.

"We didn't need to. We've seen 'em. We've fought 'em. They've wiped out entire clans and raised 'em."

Everyone exchanged nervous looks with each other as the wildling finished his last statement. Benjen continued with his questioning. "Are you alone out here?"

"No. There's a camp northeast of here."

"How many men? How far away is it?"

"There's over a hundred of us. It's about an hour's trip on foot."

"Do they know we're here?"

"No. We were sent out to scout the area when we found you."

Benjen sighed and turned to his rangers. "We can't stay here. They'll know we're here once they realize their scouts are dead. If we leave now we can put at least a day between us and them." His rangers nodded and left to dismantle their camp. Benjen turned back to Serana and motioned his head towards the wildling.

She nodded in understanding and withdrew her dagger from his hand only to plunge it into his heart. His face bore an expression of hurt and confusion as to why his master had been displeased enough to kill him. His mouth began to open but he fell over dead before any words could make it out. As she withdrew her dagger she heard a rustling from the trees and quickly turned to see an eagle flying off into the distance.

* * *

**Yorren**

"You bloody idiot!" Ned slammed Yorren against a wall. "I came to keep Robert out of danger and you..! You go in and nearly kill him!"

"Look, you're right okay. I hadn't thought Robert would fight as he did. I thought it be a simple sparring match."

"That doesn't change the fact you nearly caved his head in!"

"I may have gotten a little too…"

Ned pinned his elbow under Yorren's chin. "A little!?"

Yorren could understand why Ned was as angry as he was, he did do more damage than he'd intended after all, but he was beginning to lose patience with the northern lord. "Look." He wrenched Ned's elbow away. "If the Lannisters really are behind both Jon Arryn and Bran then don't you think that they would have found someone to 'accidentally' kill Robert in whatever competition he was in? You said it yourself; Robert will do what he wants."

Yorren's words seemed to have an effect as Ned visibly calmed down some. "I could have talked him out of it."

"Do you truly believe that?" Ned didn't answer.

"Lord Stark." Both Ned and Yorren looked up to see Jaime Lannister standing in the doorway.

"What do you want Kingslayer?" Ned spat.

"His Grace Robert has requested his presence." Jaime said motioning to Yorren.

As Yorren walked forward Ned stopped him for a moment. "See in my chambers when you're done." Yorren nodded and Ned walked off.

After several moments of silence Yorren spoke. "So are you really here to take me to the king?"

Jaime shrugged. "Why else would I be here?"

"It just seems odd that someone of your standing would be sent out as a messenger boy."

"I offered."

"Come to carry out the threat your fellow white cloak made?"

Jaime laughed. "Ah Ser Meryn Trant… Pathetic excuse for knight." Jaime spat. "But our good king Robert had promises to keep."

"You don't seem to hold your brothers in arms in very high esteem."

Jaime scoffed. "Just because we all swore the same oaths doesn't make us brothers." Yorren only glared at him. "I am curious." Jaime walked up closer to Yorren. "What have I done to offend you? From the moment I met you in Winterfell you've shown nothing but contempt for me."

"I've heard all about you. Since when does Jaime Lannister care about what others think about him?"

Jaime scoffed. "I don't care about the opinions of people. As I said I am merely curious. I assume most of what you've heard has been from Lord Eddard Stark, yes?"

Yorren nodded. "I did. I heard all about how you killed the king you were sworn to protect so that your father could take the city."

Jaime rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. You seem like a smart man so tell me, do you believe everything Lord Stark tells you?"

"I don't believe everything anyone tells me."

"Good. You might actually survive in this shit hole of a city." Yorren wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a threat. Jaime continued. "So tell me now, if your Emperor or your General ordered you to kill an innocent, would you do it? If they were going to kill innocents would you stop them?"

"Of course I'd stop them."

"Even if it meant breaking your vows? Even if it meant killing them?"

Yorren paused. "What were you ordered to do?"

Jaime smirked. "There's a reason Aerys became known as The Mad King." He motioned down the hallway he'd come from. "Shall we?" The two proceeded down the hall and after several minute Jamie spoke again. "Best swordsman in Skyrim I've heard, is that right."

"It is. Well… not entirely." Jaime's eyebrow perked up. "There is one man whom I've never been able to beat, but he's not from Skyrim and most people there don't know about him."

"Well perhaps one day I'll get to test your skill first hand; a friendly sparring match between two seasoned warriors sometime?"

"Doesn't it bother you in the slightest that I nearly killed the King?"

Jaime stopped and laughed. "Don't think that I don't take my oaths seriously." He said once he caught his breath. "But our good King Robert will do what he likes regardless of any council given. Ser Barristan tried to convince his Grace not to go until he was nearly blue in face. He still wound up in that arena with you didn't he?" Yorren nodded. "So I supposed that if our good King Robert wants to get his brains bashed in he'll do it with a smile on his face. Who I am to stop him?" Yorren couldn't argue with that. From what he'd seen and from everyone had said Robert was the most stubborn person on the planet. The two continued down the hallway as Jamie continued his questioning. "So if you don't mind my asking, but what exactly is a Legate?"

"It's a high ranking officer in the Imperial Army. I answer to only the Supreme Commander, a General, or anyone they appoint as a second in command."

Jaime whistled. "Impressive. How long were in the army for you to attain such a high position?"

"Not as long as most. I was given this position for mostly honorary reasons." Jaime made a face of disgust. Yorren continued before he lost too much face with the knight. "Because when I joined the army I was already quite well known throughout Skyrim I was made a low officer after proving I knew how to fight. General Tullius knew what I was capable of as we'd met before, though not on the most friendly circumstances." He figured Jaime didn't need to know about him nearly getting his head removed that time. Yorren smirked at the irony.

"So how then did you go from a low officer to the third highest rank so quickly?"

"It was the middle of the civil war. I was given a small group of soldiers and led multiple small campaigns against the rebels, all successful. It wasn't until we were able to liberate a hold capital though that I began to rise through the ranks."

"A hold?"

"Yes, Skyrim is divided into nine holds, they would be equivalent to a minor house under a Lord Paramount. General Tullius, Legate Rikke, and myself led the final charge against rebels. I killed their leader Ulfric Stormcloak myself and was promoted to legate after that."

"I see. You had me worried that you just a politician with a fancy title for a minute there." They both chuckled. "I would very much like to meet this General Tullius one day."

"I'm afraid he's dead; killed on our journey to this land."

"I'm sorry to hear that." They approached the end of the hallway and stopped in front of a door guarded by Sers Barristan Selmy and Meryn Trant. "Good luck in there." Jaime patted him on the shoulder as he walked through the door. Trant gave Yorren a death glare which he returned as he walked past.

Inside Yorren saw both Cersei and Grand Maester Pycell standing over Robert, who was lying in bed. Cersei turned her head towards Yorren as he closed the door behind him. "You have NO right to be here! Not after what you've done." She hissed.

"Shut up woman!" Robert bellowed. "I asked him here." He turned to Pycell. "Wine! Now!"

"Y… Your Grace… You shouldn't be drinking now… Not with… Not with a head injury such… Such as yours."

"No?" He spat to the side of the bed. "Fine. OUT! Both of you!" Pycell stuttered more before leaving while Cersei simply stormed out in a huff. "Bloody idiots. Fawning over me like I'm a bloody child."

"I did crack your skull with a warhammer."

Robert waved his hand. "Pah. Nothing I haven't done worse with all my gods damned drinking."

"And you want to drink more?"

"If something's going to kill me let it be something I love." Yorren smirked as Robert continued. "So how's your shoulder?"

He'd nearly forgotten about it. "I've had worse. How's your head?"

"Already told you, ain't nothing that wine hasn't done worse. But the maester was a bit confused why it wasn't as bad as it should have been."

Yorren didn't think it was right time to explain healing magic to Robert. "I guess what they saw about you having a thick skull is true then."

Robert burst into laughter. Though as suddenly as he started he stopped and pointed an accusing finger at Yorren. "You! I want an explanation from you!"

"About what?" Yorren asked confusedly.

"I told you not to go easy on me!"

Yorren breathed deeply and stifled a chuckle. "I thought it would be more of a sparring match than an actual fight." Robert stared at him and said nothing. "I also thought you could use a warm up." Robert burst out laughing at that. Yorren hadn't intended the comment to be that funny. "Are you alright?" He asked worrying about Robert's seeming unstable state.

"My head hurts. Like I hit it on something…" Robert replied staring at something above Yorren.

"I'll get the maester."

"Fuck the maester. Bring me wine!"

"I'll see to it that someone brings some." Robert didn't say anything in response so Yorren took his leave worrying that the blow to Robert's head did more damage than he thought.

* * *

**Yorren**

"YORREN!" Someone screamed from behind him. He turned to see Arya running up the corridor. "Yorren you have to help me!" She collapsed on the ground in front of him.

He knelt down. "What's going on? What's happened?"

"It's about my father. He… He found a bastard, wolves are fighting lions, and… someone's with a savage."

Yorren gave her a confused stare. "Arya what are you talking about? Where did you hear all this?"

"I don't know who they were. I was in the sewers. They're coming after my father! You're powerful you can protect him!"

"Arya what were you doing in the sewers in the first place?"

"I… I was exploring and… got lost…"

"In the sewers? You know what forget it. Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll talk to your father."

"You won't let any hurt him will you?"

Yorren put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure your father's guard has that handled well enough."

He smiled as she ran off. Once again she'd reminded him of Lucia. Gods he needed to get this business with Ned sorted out quickly so he could go back to looking for a boat to take them back to Tamriel. Yorren was mentally debating on what to think of Arya's story. Was she talking about the Starks and Lannisters fighting? And given where they were and what he and Ned had been doing it wouldn't surprise him that someone was plotting to kill him. But what about the part with a savage? He shook his head. He would have to see what Ned thought of all this.

As he walked into the Chamber of the Hand, Ned shot up from behind his desk. "Have you seen Arya?"

"I just saw her in the corridor. She said she was in the sewers so I sent her to get cleaned up."

Ned visibly relaxed. "Thank the gods. I've had men searching for her… Why was she in the sewers?"

Yorren shrugged. "She said she got lost." He paused and breathed deeply. "But she also said that she overheard someone plotting to kill you." Ned froze in place. "She couldn't identify either of them but muttered out something about a savage and that wolves and lions were fighting each other. I assume that if she heard correctly that whoever they were, were referring to you and the Lannisters." Yorren leaned in. "Are you sure you what to continue looking into all this? We're in a very dangerous city and our efforts haven't gone unnoticed."

Ned thought for a moment. "I will not stop. I will not let whoever tried to kill my son, whoever killed Jon Arryn go free."

A knock came to the door before their conversation could continue and Jory Cassel stood in the doorway. "Someone to see you my Lord."

"Send him in."

Jory stepped aside and a Night's Watchman walked into the room. "Lord Stark." He said exasperated. "I rode my horse nearly to death to tell you before it's all over the city tomorrow."

Yorren and Ned exchanged worried looks. "Before what is? What's happened?"

"It's your wife my Lord. She's taken Tyrion Lannister prisoner."

"Gods damn it all…" Yorren muttered.

"What happened?" Ned asked.

"The imp and I were traveling here. We stopped for the night at the Crossroads Inn and your wife happened to also be there. We were surprised to see her there and when Tyrion spoke with her, she called upon the knights present and charged him with attempting to murder her son. She claimed to be taking him back to Winterfell, but I saw them head east towards the Vale."

Ned sighed deeply. "Thank you for telling me this. What's your name?"

"Yoren, my lord." Yorren stifled a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just not every day I meet someone who shares my name."

"Ah." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a letter. "Then this is for you. From your wife. I suppose she intended this to be some kind of joke, if we had met under better circumstances."

"She would do that." He tucked the letter into his belt. "Thank you for delivering it."

Yoren turned to Ned. "Now if you don't mind I suppose I should go do what I originally came here for. Do I have your permission to have a pick through the dungeons?"

"Yes please. By all means." With that Yoren bowed and left. Ned cupped his hands in face. "Damn it Cat… What were you thinking..?" Ned muttered.

"We need to do damage control, now." Yorren stated. "When the Lannisters get wind of this…"

"There will be hell to pay. I'll send a raven to the Vale."

"What good would that do? Even if the latter gets there tomorrow the Vale is a several day ride away from here."

"What would you have me do then!? Nothing!?"

"No, not nothing."

Ned sighed. "We need to go to Robert. No more of this behind his back."

"Robert is…" Yorren didn't want to add to the high tension situation by telling Ned about Robert's condition. "Are you sure that's a wise choice?"

"Varys visited me. He confirmed that Jon Arryn was murdered. Tears of Lys; a clear, odorless, tasteless poison. He also said that he was killed because he had started asking questions. There's something going on in this city and the Lannisters are behind it."

"But why? The crown price is half Lannister. The Queen is a Lannister. Why would the Lannisters conspire against their own?" Neither of them spoke for several moments. "Unless Robert's children aren't actually his…"

Ned gave him an inquisitive look. "If the royal children are all the Queen's bastards then the crown has no heir and the Queen and her children could be executed."

"That would explain why Jon Arryn was looking in the lineage book."

"And why he was searching for Robert's bastards…" Ned ran to his desk and flipped the book open. After several minutes he stopped. "Gods you're right. No matter who has married into the Baratheon line, their blood has always been dominant, the Lannisters, even the Targaryans. All their children have been strongly Baratheon…"

"Except Robert's children, who look distinctly Lannister."

"Bran must have seen or heard something. That's why they tried to have him killed."

"We need to proceed cautiously Lord Stark. This can get very ugly very fast if we don't. Wait until Tribune Valnnia has found something. We need something more solid, even if it means waiting to expose it."

Ned sighed. "If Robert believes this he'll kill them, and go after the rest of their house as well."

Yorren couldn't help but chuckle. "This damned world just seems to love war. Doesn't it?"

"Aye. That it does."

* * *

**Serana**

Another arrow whistled past Serana's head. She didn't know how the wildlings managed to find them, but they had. She readied an ice spike and launched it at the archer, impaling him into a tree, before turning her attention back to the main battle. They'd been ambushed by a group of round twenty wildlings not long after they'd packed up and left their previous campsite.

One of Benjen's rangers had been fighting three at once and managed to cut one of them down, but one of the other two managed to grab his arm and wrestle him to the ground. Serana launched another ice spike at them but only managed to hit the one standing. The one on the ground then stabbed the ranger in the neck before throwing him off to the side and charging at Serana. He was at least six feet tall, bald, and had a bloodthirsty look in his eyes that reminded Serana of the other vampires in Skyrim. He roared and raised his weapons as he closed in, only to be met with a lightning bolt to the chest. Serana was surprised though when it didn't kill him. The wildling was thrown back a few feet, but he charged her again. Serana retreated from him and sent two more lightning bolts in him before he finally went down.

Quickly scanning the rest of the battle she saw that most of the wildlings that had ambushed them were now on the ground bloody, and only two of Benjen's rangers had fallen. Benjen himself had been separated from the group by four wildlings and was just now returning to the main fight with blood staining his face. Serana spotted another archer high up in a tree taking aim at Benjen and shot her with a lightning bolt, sending her flying out of the tree and onto another wildling. She couldn't help but laugh at them. Her momentary distraction nearly cost her though, as a wildling charged and tackled her. He pinned her down moved to stab her, but she grabbed his knife hand and twisted it, breaking his wrist. This didn't deter his however as he pulled a second knife out and slashed Serana across her face. In a rage she threw him off her and drew her sword. As he stumbled back to his feet she drove her blade through his throat.

Serana looked around again and saw that the last of the wildlings had been killed, and no more of Benjen's men had fallen. The wildlings were vicious, but fortunately unskilled. She hissed as she touched the wound on her face. She managed to avoid the knife going all the way through her cheek fortunately, though it would most likely scar unless she found someone to use her drain spell on. Serana was so caught up in thinking about the cut on her face that she nearly didn't hear the arrow speeding towards her. She jumped out of the way, but not fast enough to not get impaled through her left shoulder. She fell and turned around and without thinking fire a lightning bolt at the hidden archer, knocking them back and killing them.

"Damn it!" She cursed.

"You two, search the area for of them." Benjen said to two of his rangers as he made his way to Serana. "We wouldn't have survived that without you." He said kneeling next to her.

She chuckled. "Not everyone did." She winced in pain from the arrow.

"Aye. Lost two good men. But that's how things go. We'll light pyres for them tonight."

"Are you sure that's safe here? The wildlings know where we are."

"My Lady, we're north of the wall, there is no safe out here."

Serana smirked. "I guess I should have figured." She tapped her shoulder. "Help me get this out."

"I'll get some medicine."

Serana stopped him. "Don't. Just hold the back of it." Benjen gave her an inquisitive look but did what he was asked. Once he had strong grip on it Serana grabbed the remainder of the shaft in one hand and the head in the other. She grit her teeth and in one sharp motion snapped the arrowhead off. "Ow." She hissed. "Now pull it out. Quickly. Please…" Benjen placed on hand on her shoulder and with his other tugged as hard he could on the arrow shaft. Serana screamed as the arrow came out, and Benjen tossed it aside in a bloody mess. "Ow… Fuck me ow." She half laughed half cried as blood began running down her chest and arm.

"That's going to need to be burned."

"No!" She jumped to her feet. "Fire and vampires… don't mix to well. I'll be fine."

"You're bleeding everywhere."

"I'll be fine. Trust me. I've been injured worse and vampires heal rapidly." She flopped back down onto the snow and tested her arm. Her fingers moved and she could bend her elbow with difficulty, but she couldn't lift it. "It's a shame we killed all wildlings. I could have healed off of them."

"What are you talking about?"

"All vampires know a spell to absorb the life from others to heal and rejuvenate themselves. Comes with the package when you get turned. It's rather unpleasant to have used against you so I wouldn't use it on anyone I didn't intend to kill. And it obviously wouldn't work on dead people." She readied the spell to demonstrate and her hand became enveloped in a swirling blood red mist of energy. A wave of her hand dismissed it. "Though some cloth to wrap this wouldn't hurt…"

Benjen retrieved some clothes from one of the dead wildlings and brought them to her. Serana nodded in thanks as she ripped them apart. "Here, let me help." He offered as she struggled to wrap her shoulder one handed. "So what else can you do?" She gave him an inquisitive look. "I mean other than shoot ice and lightning from your hands."

"Well that's not part of the package. Being a vampire makes it easier to learn spells, but I learned those independently of being turned."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Are you sure you want to know? You might not like some of the things I can do." She winced as he tightened the cloth wrap.

"Try me."

"I can raise the dead." She said flatly. Benjen froze and stared at her. "Albeit temporarily. After a short time they collapse into a pile of ash."

"Why haven't you used it then?"

"Your men already don't trust me. How do you think they'll react if I start raising people they just killed, even if they are fighting for me?"

"Fair point." He sighed. "Alright, what else?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Alright, well… Other than what you've already seen, I can turn invisible. I can see in near complete darkness. I can't get sick or poisoned and I'm not affected by the cold. Though I can't get near fire..." She pulled off one of her gauntlets and showed Benjen a round scar about the size of a small coin on her hand. "Candle nearly burnt through my hand a few years back." She put her gauntlet back on. "Not even a good story behind it. It got knocked over and I stupidly tried to catch it." Serana laughed at herself.

"Back at Castle Black you mentioned something about literally becoming a monster. What was that about?"

Serana's mouth twitched. "That… Well… I'm not a normal vampire."

"Normal? There's more than one kind?"

"There's lots of different kinds of vampires. Each kind more dangerous than the last."

"Then what kind are you?"

"The most powerful. It's because of what I can turn into. It's not something I do willingly. I can't… I can't control it. The last time I shifted I…" She sighed deeply. "I did things I'll regret for the rest of my life."

Benjen patted her on her uninjured shoulder. "I understand. We've all got blood on our hands for one thing or another. What matters is that we put those things behind us and keep going on."

"Don't we have a pyre to build?" She asked not wanting to continue the conversation. Benjen nodded and walked off, leaving Serana sitting in the snow by herself. She was bothered by his questioning. These weren't uncommon questions for her, but it was the way he asked them. Most people were more afraid when they asked. They wanted to know what she was for their own safety. Benjen wasn't afraid.

It took a little over two hours to build the funeral pyres for the fallen black brothers. Serana tried to help as best she could but with her injured shoulder it wasn't much. When the pyres were built and the bodies were placed atop them Benjen stepped forward from the group and gave the eulogy. At the end he and the rest of the rangers said in unison, "And now their watch has ended", and he lit the pyres. Once the fire had grown to full strength Benjen and his rangers left to pack up their camp and leave. Serana stayed, starring at the flames lost in thought. She wondered if coming out here was truly and wise choice. If the Walkers are servants of Molag Bal, she thought. If, if they are… What if they weren't? She would be out here for nothing. And even if they were, why was she obligated to fight them? She laughed to herself. Yorren had rubbed off on her a bit too much. She remembered giving him a similar speech whenever he'd go out of his way to help someone he barely knew. Now she was doing the same.

The sun had begun to set and Serana turned to see Benjen walking up to her. "It's time to go." He told her. He'd brought her horse to her and helped her up and soon they were off. They rode for over an hour trying to put as much distance between them and the wildlings as they could before it got too dark for them to see. Serana was exhausted from the day's events and flopped down onto the snow once they had a camp set up. She made herself as comfortable as she could on the ground and quickly fell asleep.

When she awoke the next day Benjen was sitting next to her with some fresh linen. "It's about time you got up." She only groaned in response. "Those need to be changed." He said about the wrap on her shoulder which was now sporting a large dark reddish-brown stain. Serana nodded and Benjen cut the wrap. He was surprised when he pulled it off though, that not only was the hole scabbed over it looked like it had been healing of over a week, rather than just overnight.

"Something wrong?" Serana groggily asked.

"No. It's just… You weren't exaggerating when you said you healed quickly."

She looked at her wound, then to Benjen. "Did you think I was lying or something?"

He shook his head. "I suppose I didn't know what to expect." He rewrapped her shoulder. "I have something to ask of you." He said when he was done. "And before you protest, I've thought about it. I've been thinking about it for a while now."

Serana looked at him suspiciously. "What is it?"

"I want you to turn me."

"What!?" She jumped to her feet. "Are you mad? You want me to turn into a vampire!?"

The rest of Benjen's group was now listening intently to the conversation. "Yes."

"And how long have you been thinking about this? Exactly?"

"Since you came to Castle Black and I realized what you were."

"Is that why you brought me out here with you? So I could some kind of fucking demonstration for you?" Benjen didn't answer. Serana looked around at the other rangers to see they all had their swords partially drawn. It was then that she realized she had a hand on hers. She stepped forward. "The only people who want to be a vampire are power hungry monsters. You can piss off." She turned around and started to storm off.

"I don't ask this of you because I want it!" Benjen shouted after her. Serana paused. "I ask it of you because I need it. You've seen the wildlings. Mance Rayder has banded nearly all the tribes together. They outnumber the Night's Watch by a hundred to one at least. Can't stop them, not like this. And we're the only thing separating them from the rest of Westeros."

She turned back towards him. "And once you deal with the wildlings what happens? This isn't something you can just hang up like an old cloak when you're done with it. Once you become a vampire there is no going back. You will outlive everyone and everything you care about. You have feed on blood to sustain yourself."

"There are worse things out here than wildlings."

"And what? You're going to fight them all by yourself?"

"If I have to. Back there you killed more wildlings than all of us combined, and all you have to show for it is arrow wound that's rapidly healing. I can save my brothers from being needlessly slaughtered against what's out here."

"Many people have thought they could handle the urges that come with this. If I turn you, what's to stop you from rampaging and killing your friends; or from turning others and making more uncontrolled vampires? You'd become one of the threats that you did this to destroy."

"I give you my word that I won't let that happen."

"… That's it? Your word? That's supposed to convince me?"

"I'm a Stark my lady. We would die before breaking our oaths."

"Your lord brother didn't seem to get that message…" Benjen made a face that told her she'd struck a nerve. After a moment she sighed. "Alright. Fine. But I have a test sort of to do on you first."

"What kind of test?" Serana drew her dagger in response. "What are you doing?" Benjen asked nervously.

"The blood of a liar has a very unique taste to it. Also I'll be able to tell if you're even strong willed enough to control what you will become."

"And if I pass this test you'll do it?"

Serana nodded. "Now give me your hand."

She lightly drew her dagger across Benjen's palm, drawing a small line of blood. She pressed his palm to her lips and licked the blood before gently sucking more out of the wound. She rolled the blood on her tongue for a moment before swallowing. She looked into his eyes and the corner of her mouth twitched.

"Alright." She sighed. "I'll do it. Are you sure this is what you want. There's no going back once it's done." Benjen closed his eyes, swallowed hard and nodded. Serana turned to the rest of the rangers. "Can you give us some privacy please?" After a look from Benjen they begrudgingly dispersed. Serana sighed again. "This is going to hurt. Just try to stay as still and calm as possible."

Benjen loosened his cloak exposing his bare neck. "Let's just get this over with."

Serana nodded and opened her mouth as two fangs rose out from her bottom jaw. She lunged at Benjen then, sinking both sets of fangs into his neck. He yelped at first before shakily falling to his knees as Serana injected her blood into his veins. Once the vampiric blood began to fully course through his body he began thrashing. Satisfied that she'd injected enough of her blood Serana withdrew her fangs and held him down. Benjen began screaming as her blood ravaged through him, but he quickly grit his teeth together to stop himself. Serana was impressed, Yorren had been the only other person able to suppress their screams. She hadn't lied about the pain; not only did her blood alter the physical body it also burned a mark on the person's soul.

Benjen jerked and threw his head back before letting out one final scream. As he did four fangs protruded from his mouth. He calmed down and slowly opened his eyes which now glowed a deep orange.

* * *

**Once again sorry for the delay in uploading this. I wish I could upload a chapter at least once per month, rather than once every other month... That being said... I have a lot of stuff to do over the summer and I don't even know if I'll have a chance to work on this. I will whenever I do get the chance though, and hopefully some of the things I have to do won't end up happening. Oh well I guess. **

**Again thanks everyone who reads and enjoys the story. Cheers!**

**Next Time: The Dragonborn fights the Kingslayer**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry everyone for ungodly long wait for this update. A rant to explain will be at the bottom.**

* * *

Yorren had begun to grow tired of waiting. Namia was supposed to have met him nearly an hour ago. He hated hiding in dark alleys like this, though he did have to admit that what he had to talk to her about wasn't something that he could afford to have overheard.

**"****Laas yah nir." **He watched as red auras enveloped everyone around him. He counted only five walking in various directions but none were very close by. He sighed before finally deciding to leave. He'd send someone to find her later. He began to walk away when he suddenly felt a slight rush of air behind him. He turned sharply to see a woman now standing behind him fully clad in black and red leather. Instinctively his hand flew to the sword on his hip before withdrawing it and cursing. "Gods damn it did you have to do that? I nearly stabbed you."

Namia simply shrugged as she removed the shroud from her face. "I enjoy theatrics."

"How did you avoid my shout?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you really asking me, a master assassin, how I avoided detection by magic?" She replied sarcastically.

Yorren rolled his eyes realizing he wouldn't get an answer. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago. What happened?"

"I was held up. Are you going to ask me anything useful yet?"

"Watch your tone."

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was official Legion business." She straightened her posture and saluted. "Sir! Tribune Valinna reporting for duty as requested sir!" She said in a stern but mocking tone.

Yorren hung his head and rubbed his temples. "Gods help me…" He sighed deeply before continuing. "Have you found anything on Baelish?"

Namia relaxed her posture. "No, unfortunately, I haven't." she said somberly. "Whatever it is he's hiding he's damned good at it."

"I need you to spy on another target."

Namia raised an eyebrow. "Alright, who?"

"The queen."

"What!?" She exclaimed. "Why?"

"Can you do it or not?"

"I can… But that doesn't answer my question. Why do you want me to spy on such a high profile target now?"

"Lord Stark and I think that the royal children are bastards."

Namia gave him a blank stare. "Good for them. Why is that our problem?"

"We think that the Lannisters are behind what happened to Bran. That he saw or heard something and the tried to have him killed to keep him from telling anyone."

Namia nodded. "Alright. And you think that what Bran saw or heard has to do with the royal children? I can work with that. But how did you figure that out?"

Yorren was about to speak when he realized how it would sound that the only thing that he and Ned had to go on was inconsistent hair color. "We just have a suspicion. Trust me."

Namia scoffed and looked hurt. "I've been honest with you. The least you can do is extend me the same."

Yorren huffed. "Fine. We found some suspicious patterns in a book that describes the royal lineage and some things with their children don't add up. That's why I need you to confirm this."

Namia's mouth twitched. "Fine, I'll do it. I just hope you understand the potential implications if something goes wrong."

"Are you expecting to get caught?"

"No, of course not." She scoffed. "But I just want to make sure that you know that if I did this would likely cause a war. Are you prepared to drag our Northern friends into a war over something that bluntly is of no concern to us? Unless, you have ulterior motives." She leaned against the wall and gave him an inquisitive look.

"Ulterior motives? And what would those be?"

"Oh you know, I help you with your fight, you help me with mine."

Yorren shook his head. "I'll not drag them into our fight."

"Yet you'll drag us into theirs?" Namia stepped towards him. "Gods Yorren, you're willing to start their war, but you won't get them to help with ours!? Why?"

"Lord Stark helped us when he didn't have to and now he needs our help. It's the right thing to do."

She shook her head in annoyance. "You're one dense mother fucker, you know that right?" She huffed. "Your bloody honor will get us all killed one day."

"Will you do it or not?" He was losing patience with her.

"Relax I already said I'd do it. I just to make sure you knew what you're getting us into."

He breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to fight with her more. "Thank you. Though there is one other thing." Namia said nothing and gave him a questioning look. "Lady Stark has taken Tyrion prisoner. If you hear anything about someone taking any action because of it come find me immediately."

She rolled her eyes. "This just keeps getting better and better. Fine, if I hear anything I'll come find you."

He nodded at her. Namia nodded back before a spell appeared in her hand and she vanished from sight.

* * *

**Ned **

Ned ran faster than he thought he'd ever run before when he'd heard that Robert had called an emergency meeting of the small council. While he breathed a sigh of relief when he'd heard the meeting was about Daenerys Targaryen and not his wife he was still unsettled. Nothing good would come from a meeting about the Targaryens. When he arrived in the great hall however he was greeted by the small council leaving the meeting chamber.

He was almost immediately approached by the spider Varys. "Don't fear my Lord Hand." He said in his usual smooth voice. "You haven't missed our meeting."

"Then what's going on?" Ned inquired.

"Our meeting has been canceled until his grace has recovered." Ned said nothing as the spider continued. "It seems that his grace's injury from the tourney has had more of an effect than he realized. Shortly after he arrived he began babbling nonsense before collapsing into the table. The Kingsguard is taking him to his chambers now for Pycell to look over him."

Ned didn't wait for him to say anymore and sprinted towards Roberts chambers. Why did he have to have that gods damned fight, he though as he ran. As he approached Robert's chambers, Ser Barristan strode out to greet him.

"What happened?" Ned asked exasperated.

Ser Barristan sighed and shook his head. "His grace was fine on his way to the meeting but as soon as he sat down his eyes simply glazed over and he collapsed onto the table. It would seem his injury has had more of an effect than we realized." He said solemnly.

"Will the Kingsguard do anything about this?"

"The Kingsguard can protect the king from many things… But not from himself." After a pause he continued. "He seemed to come to his senses some once we got here. If you wish to speak with him Lord Hand, you should do so now before Maester Pycell arrives to do another examination."

Ned nodded and walked into the room to see Robert sitting up against the headboard of his bed. He laughed and shook his head when he saw Ned. "Come in Ned and have a drink with me!"

Ned took a seat next to Robert's bed but ignored the pitcher of wine he kept. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? I'm the bloody king! I should be able to do what I bloody hell what to but everyone keeps dragging me here."

"Robert, you have a head injury. You need to rest and let Maester Pycell treat you."

Robert waved his hand in dismissal. "You're starting to sound like my bloody wife."

"You should listen to her."

"Bah! She's also been telling me that I should have that foreign friend of yours locked in a black cell. Still think I should listen to her?" Robert paused for a moment and sighed. "If I'd known that another man and I couldn't bash each other's skulls in without the entire country losing it gods damned shit I'd have never been king."

"You know that's not true Robert."

"Bah! All Cersei and Joffrey do is talk about how stupid I've been and how much that Yorgen fellow should rot with the dandelions and…" Robert's eyes began to glaze over while he continued talking but the majority of what he said was incoherent.

At the mention of Joffrey Ned remembered what they'd found in the lineage book. It pained him do to so but he needed to tell Robert what they'd found while he was still able to do something about it. The way Robert had been fairing though, Ned didn't think that was much longer. "Robert. There's something I need to tell you… About your children…" Robert seemed to come to at the mention of his children. "Robert… Your children are…"

"Bastards the lot of them!" Ned jumped and turned around to see Maester Pycell storming into the room cursing.

The sudden intrusion brought Robert out of his blank state as well. "What in the seven hells is going on Pycell!?" He yelled. "Can't you see I'm having a bloody conversation my Hand!?"

"F-f-forgive me, your grace… your hand… I-i-it's just some thieving hooligans broke into my laboratory…"

"What was stolen?" Robert asked calming down.

"It was a-a few bottles of quicksilver, your grace."

"I'll have someone look into it." He turned to Ned. "Were you saying something?"

Ned's mouth twitched and he bit his lip. "It was nothing." He stood up. "I should be going now. We can talk later. Your Grace. Maester." He bowed before leaving the room. As he walked through the door to the hallway a boy approached him.

"Lord Stark. I have a message for you from Lord Baelish."

* * *

**Namia**

The landscape rushed past her as she flew over the countryside. Trees, cities, mountains, they were all a blur to her as the cold wind washed all around her. She flexed the wings that were not hers and flew up into the sky. Then she heard it, the roar of a challenge from a brother that was not hers, and she answered it with fire. The challenger was young and foolhardy, but put up a trilling battle none the less, though in the end he had fallen to her. She descended to the ground over the broken body of her challenger. 'Too young to have even earned a name yet', she mused.

The sound of a slamming door brought Namia out of her meditation. She always took comfort in the memories of the dragons that fell to her, though she had had to train herself to not get lost in them. "**Laas"**, she whispered. She made a quick scan of the room and found it to be empty. Ending the invisibility spell she had cast on herself, Namia silently jumped down from the rafters of Cersei's chambers. She took note of where everything was in the room. The servants had done an impeccable job at cleaning and organizing everything and Namia would have to make sure everything she looked through was returned to its exact position as to not raise suspicion.

She began the process of riffling through the queens things. She wasn't sure what she was looking for so she started with the basics, letters, journals, and the like. She had gone through several stacks of both and found nothing. If Cersei was hiding something, she was good at it. Namia eventually came across a very large jewelry box. A few seconds with a pick was all it had taken for the box to reveal its contents to her. She stared longer than she would have liked at the array of broches, necklaces, earrings, and rings in front of her. The majority of them were gold with bright rubies, including an obnoxiously large golden lion pendant with ruby eyes. Namia's thief instinct kicked in momentarily and she reached for a handful to pocket. She was here as a spy, not a thief she reminded herself, besides there was no one she would be able to fence anything off on. As she'd learned, stolen items you couldn't sell were worthless and high profile items like these would likely get her caught and probably killed.

She spent nearly another hour riffling through Cersei's chamber finding nothing. Namia had nearly given up hope that she would find anything until she found a suspicious panel in the side of a closet. She had to hand it to Cersei, she was good. To anyone but an experienced thief the panel would have looked completely normal. Namia pulled out a small dagger and gently pried along the seam between the panel and wall. The side of the panel popped out and Namia set it aside to reveal a heavy iron lockbox inside.

"Jackpot." She smiled. She removed the box and inspected the lock. She scowled at it having a specialized lock. Rather than a normal lock which had one slot for key teeth, this one had four in the shape of a small cross. Namia would have to essentially pick four locks at once to open it, and she doubted that Cersei would go through all this trouble to hid something and not keep the key with her. No, she would have to improvise something; she'd broken into difficult things before after all.

After several minutes of fiddling and twisting her lock picks Namia felt the familiar click of the lock tumbler releasing. After carefully opening the box she found what she was looking for. The inside if the box was filled with wood with a molded velvet cutout in the center. In it sat a half empty glass bottle with a shimmering silver liquid. Namia removed the bottle from the box and inspected it. "Cersei you naughty, naughty girl." Namia mused once she'd realized what its contents were. "Whatever are you doing with quicksilver?" She replaced the bottle its box and returned the box to the wall. She recast an invisibility spell on herself before climbing out the nearest window and jumping out.

* * *

**Yorren**

When he'd heard that Ned had been summoned for an emergency council meeting Yorren felt his stomach sink. If they'd found out about Catelyn before anything could be done about it, it could very well be the start of a civil war. Littlefinger approaching him at his seat in the courtyard with an unwieldly smirk didn't help matters much either. They hadn't yet found anything to implicate him but Namia's vehement disapproval of the manmade Yorren weary. Despite his every instinct telling him not to trust her, he still did for reasons he didn't know.

"A fine afternoon, isn't it?" Littlefinger said sitting down next to Yorren.

"Something I can do for you Lord Baelish?"

He chuckled, "Something you can do for me? No not at all, but… Something I can do for you." Yorren gave him an inquisitive look. Baelish continued, "I've been looking into our little, matter. It has been brought to my attention that one of my, 'employees' had been visited by Lord Stark's predecessor soon after her daughter was born. I thought Lord Stark and yourself would like to speak with her as well."

Yorren nodded, "I would, but what of Lord Stark? He's still at the meeting I presume?"

"Oh no not at all. Our meeting was cancelled before Lord Stark had arrived. I would imagine he is with His Grace at the moment."

"What happened?"

Littlefinger's face twisted into his familiar sly smirk. "Everyone said that His Grace was hard headed, apparently he wasn't hard headed enough." He paused. "You should be grateful you know? The Queen, the Crown Prince, the Kingsguard, gods, half the city likely want nothing more than to see your head on a spike. But in one of his few lucid moments Robert ordered them not to harm you."

"Why do I take no comfort in that?" Yorren asked sarcastically.

"Because you're smart and smart men know that the commands of dead kings carry no weight, especially when the next king wants the exact opposite of his predecessor." Baelish leaned in closer. "Take my advice, from one smart man to another. For your own sake, conclude what business you have here quickly and get yourself and your men out of this city. As soon as Robert dies you will be the first they come for."

Yorren stood. "I appreciate your advice Lord Baelish and I'll consider it, but I've never been one to back down or run from a bad situation and I don't intend to start now." Littlefinger stood as well and Yorren continued. "Now shall we see to this, 'employee' of yours?"

"Let's."

As they walked out of the royal gardens and through the street of Kings Landing Yorren took notice of how people looked at him. He'd long ago learned to ignore the looks he received in public; he was a high profile figure and tended to draw quite a bit of attention after all. But today he ignored that and paid attention. About half the people they passed paid them no mind and didn't bother to give a second glance to the two of them. The rest however, were mix of awe and fear, but most stopped whatever it was that they were doing to glare daggers into him. He met eyes with some of them and could see the challenge to fight being issued; one he'd met several times in the past and never ended well for the challenger. Yorren forcefully averted his eyes and walked on. Once they'd reached the brothel Yorren again paused and stared at the outside, remembering fondly times from his youth.

"Is there a problem?" Littlefinger asked after Yorren had stopped.

"No. Just remembering."

Littlefinger laughed. "I didn't imagine you to be the type. Perhaps once our business is concluded you would like to partake in what I have to offer?"

"I thought you said I should leave the city once I was finished."

He shrugged, "I am first and foremost a businessman, and I do offer a large variety of girls whom cater to wide variety of tastes."

Yorren snorted. "I doubt you have any who could cater to mine, plus you forget I'm married."

"And your wife is a thousand miles away." He gave Yorren a suggestive look. "You wouldn't be the first married man to lay with another woman. Our friend Lord Stark has. Our king has…"

"Being a king says nothing about someone's moral character." Yorren interrupted.

"And who are we to say what is or isn't a good moral character?"

"I'm not here to debate philosophy Lord Baelish. The answer is no."

Ned accompanied with Jorry Cassel and two other House Stark guards quickly approached the two of them before their conversation could go any further. "You wanted to see me Lord Baelish?"

"Yes I did. As I was telling your friend here one of my employees spoke to Jon Arryn before he died. In fact she very well may have been one of the last people to see him alive." Littlefinger led the group through the brothel and into his office where a woman with an infant was waiting. Upon entering the room the girl clumsily attempted a curtsy while still holding the infant.

"M' lords…" She said meekly.

"Mhaegen, my dear, this is Lord Hand Eddard Stark." Littlefinger said holding his hand out towards Ned, "Tell him about what Lord Arryn wanted when he met with you last."

"Yes M' lord… His Lord Hand came to check on Barra." she bounced the baby in her arms.

"And what did he want?" Ned asked.

"He just wanted to see how she was; to see if she was in good health." She continued after a brief pause, "She looks like him don't she m'lord? His Grace?" Ned nodded. "Has His Grace asked about her? Do you know?"

Ned was slightly taken aback at her sudden questions. "No, I don't know if he has." She frowned at the revelation. "I promise you and the child shall want for nothing in this life."

Littlefinger put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go back to your room my dear? I think the Lord Hand has heard all that he needs to." Ned nodded.

"Thank you m'lords." She said scurrying out of the room.

"Curious. Isn't it. Why Jon Arryn would want to seek out Roberts bastards." Littlefinger mused aloud. "Perhaps His Grace had suddenly been overcome with fatherly concern."

"How many bastards does Robert have?" Ned asked.

"More than you." Littlefinger retorted. "Monogamy was not something that His Grace understood too well."

"It looks like our theory is proving correct." Yorren said. "Why else would Lord Arryn suddenly care about Robert's bastards?"

"The question now, is what to do." Littlefinger stated. "You obviously can't go to the queen; she'll have you executed for treason. You can't go to Robert while he's in his current mental state, and where he not he would immediately have them all executed. An interesting situation you've found yourself in."

"You're the Hand of the King," Yorren said to Ned. "Don't you hold any authority in matters like this, especially when the king is incapacitated?"

Ned bit his lip. "I'll have to think on this before we do anything."

"A wise decision." Littlefinger said.

With that Ned left the room with Littlefinger accompanying him. Yorren didn't immediately follow. He found himself thinking on what Namia had asked him earlier. Why was he doing this? It felt like the right thing to do and yet what Littlefinger had said about Robert executing the queen and her children didn't sit right with him. The children were not at fault, yet revealing their parentage could very well get them murdered. He was not willing to have their blood on his hands. A large commotion outside brought Yorren out of his thinking and he quickly headed to the door. He saw Jamie Lannister standing among over a dozen house Lannister guards surrounding the entrance to the brothel.

"What's going on out here?" Yorren shouted as Littlefinger rushed past him.

"It would seem our Lord Hand has ordered the kidnapping of my brother." Jaime replied. "Now I'd suggest you turn around and go back inside so we can settle this."

Yorren ignored him and stepped down to stand next to Ned. "Your brother was supposed to be brought to us for questioning about an attempted murder. Now if everyone would just calm down we can this settled peaceably."

"You had a hand in this?" Jaime asked accusingly.

"Aye, I did. Now as I said if we all could simply stay calm we can have this whole matter resolved and no one needs to get hurt." He said as his hand slowly drifted to the sword on his belt.

"Kill them." Jaime said to his men.

"You kill me and your brother's a dead man." Ned shot back.

"You're right." Jaime said. After a pause he continued, "Take Stark Alive, kill the rest."

Several of the Lannister guards threw their spears at the group. Yorren, Ned, and Jory dodged the throws but the two other Stark guards were not so lucky. With the remaining Lannister guards quickly closing the distance the three drew their swords. Ned and Jory engaged the guards attacking them immediately but the ones attacking Yorren paused when his sword ignited in flames as he drew it.

Taking advantage of their momentary shock Yorren cut down two Lannister guards before they reacted. When Yorren slashed at a third the guard parried the sword with his spear and drove Yorren's sword down away from him. As the guard raised his spare up to slash at his face, Yorren dodged backwards and drove the pommel of his sword into the guard's armpit, sending stumbling to the ground. A quick thrust to back of the guard's neck then ensured that he wouldn't be getting back up. Jolting up Yorren saw another guard charging at him with his sword drawn. The guard thrusted at him, only to have the thrust parried. He swung at Yorren's head, his legs, and his shoulder, all of which Yorren parried. The guard tried once more to thrust at his chest but Yorren was able to lock their blades together. The flame enchantment on his sword activating and heating up the guard's sword. The Lannister guard winced as the heat started to radiate through the handle into his hand and held onto his sword for as long as he could before throwing it aside in pain. Yorren quickly punched the now unarmed guard in the head before driving his sword up under his chestplate.

He expected more guardsmen to come at him yet none did. They were instead encircling Jaime and Ned who were locked in a duel, with Jory lying dead at their feet with a knife stabbed through his eye. The fight didn't last much longer however, as when Jaime backed Ned into his guards one of them drove their spear through his leg, leaving Jaime visibly irritated. He wouldn't be without a fight much longer however.

"LANNISTER!" Yorren yelled.

The Lannister guards all turned and pointed their weapons at Yorren ready to charge him. "No!" Jaime shouted at them. He stepped out in front of them casually twirling his sword. "So then, shall we see if the best sword in Skyrim can do more than beat up a fat drunk?"

"I went easy on Robert." Yorren growled before he charged Jaime.

He opened with a swing to Jaime's head, which Jaime quickly deflected and in turn swung his sword at Yorren's leg. Yorren parried that attack and the two separated. They charged clashed swords several more times, neither seeming to gain an advantage over the other. Yorren was seething at Jaime, but it wasn't until Jaime smirked that he heard a whisper in his head that he'd not heard in years. _Krii mok. Kill him. _Yorren slashed and stabbed madly yet methodically at Jaime finally gaining the upper hand and forcing him on the defensive. Yorren slashed at Jaime's chest which he was only just barely fast enough to dodge, but not fast enough to avoid Yorren's sword cutting through his coat. The enchantment on the sword lit Jaime's coat on fire causing the knight to throw it off frantically. Yorren did not stop his attack and in Jaime's momentary distraction caught Jaime's arm with the tip of sword.

The fire enchantment burned the cut as the blade sliced through Jaime's arm like butter. His sword went flying as his hand reflexively opened with the injury. Jaime yelped in pain and nursed the smoldering cut on his arm. He didn't have very long however as Yorren once again swung his sword at him. Jaime was able to dodge the first two attacks, but the third made contact, cutting him in his left shoulder. Jaime reeled in pain once again but realizing the attacks wouldn't stop ran up to Yorren and grabbed him, trying to control his sword arm. His success was short lived as his injuries allowed Yorren to quickly overpower him. Yorren wrenched his sword arm out of Jamie's grip and slammed the pommel of his sword into the side of Jaime's face, sending him crumbling to the ground. Before Jamie could fully right himself he felt the tip of Yorren's sword pressed against his throat with the flame enchantment starting to burn him.

"Wait…" He panted as blood ran down his broken face and held his hand up. "Wait. If you kill me… My father will hunt you down…"

_Krii mok. He is weak. Kill him._ Yorren heard in his head. He saw Jaime's eyes darting between looking at him to looking behind him. Before he could react an arm reached around his neck and pulled him to the ground. His sword flew out of his hand as he rolled to dodge the spear from the Lannister guard trying to stab him. **"Fus!"** The guard stumbled to the ground and dropped his spear. Yorren jumped to his feet and grabbed the spear just in time to deflect another spear thrust from a second guard. He spun the spear around, hitting the guard with the butt end in his head and stabbed the guard on the ground through the leg, pinning him to the ground. Yorren retrieved his sword and met the guard charging him. He closed the distance between them after a few parries and with a quick motion, severed the guard's hand. The Lannister guard screamed in pain for a second before being silenced when Yorren thrust his sword through the bottom of the guard's mouth.

Turning around he saw the remaining guards had helped Jaime onto his horse and were fleeing. **"Yol Toor Shul!" **The flame shout engulfed the tailing Lannister guard and his horse, sending both screaming in agony to the ground. Jaime and the rest of his guards were spared however, and fled the area as fast as their horses would let them. Yorren tightened the grip on his sword until his knuckles were white wanting nothing more than to chase after them and kill them, but realized there would be no way of catching them. He turned and saw the guard that had been pinned to the ground had managed to remove the spear from his leg and was slowly crawling away. He fell onto his back as Yorren approached him.

He held out his hands and begged, "P… Please don't k…" Yorren cut the man's head off before he could finish begging for his life. Yorren wiped the blood off his sword and returned it to its sheath, extinguishing the flame enchantment. Kneeling by Ned, Yorren was relieved to find him alive and lifted Ned's unconscious form over his shoulders and carried him back to the Red Keep.

* * *

**Benjen**

"Not bad." Serana rubbed her chin. "Not bad at all. You're a fast learner." She examined the charred outer bark on the tree Benjen had been practicing a lightning spell she'd taught him.

Benjen rubbed his head as it became sore once again. Serana had told him that he would keep getting headaches until he got used to using magic. He'd passed out after she finished turning him and once he'd awoken his vision had become over saturated in colors to the point he thought he was hallucinating. Everything he'd look at, from the sky to the snow had a rainbow tinge to it. Looking at anything from more than a few moments gave him a pounding headache to the point he could barely stand. After an hour or so and few bottle of reserved blood Serana had collected took care it however. She'd explained to him once his vision returned to somewhat normal that it was a side effect of small dormant magicka pool in him suddenly being awakened and increased in size by many orders of magnitude.

He shook off his growing headache and readied another lightning bolt at the tree. When he fired it however it simply fizzled out a few inches from his hand. "Damn it!" He cursed.

Serana walked up to him and out a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Easy. Spellcasting is just like exercising your regular muscles. The more you do it, the stronger they'll be. You'll get the hang of it eventually."

In the days since he'd been turned Serana had taken an almost motherly attitude towards him. Aside from showing him a handful of his new powers she tended to hover around him almost too much for his liking. He understood why she acted the way she did though, so he didn't say anything. He let go of the lightning bolt and instead readied his Vampiric Drain spell. His hand lit up in a swirling deep red ball of energy. It was nearly effortless compared to the lightning spell, like he'd know it his entire life. He sighed and let go of the spell. "I suppose you're right. Though I think I've had enough for today." Serana nodded and tossed him a bottle of blood, which he drank with a grimace. Serana stifled a laugh. "That's going to take a bit to get used to."

She leaned against a tree. "Fresh always tastes better. You'll get used to it eventually."

He grimaced again. That wasn't something he was looking forward to doing, drinking fresh blood from someone, but he knew he'd have to do it eventually. The two of them slowly made their way back to camp where two of his four remaining rangers were sitting by a fire. The rangers looked up at them and scowled as they approached. They'd all been wary of Benjen since he'd been turned, but so far no one had spoken against him openly. He understood how they felt; he just hoped that they would understand in time why he did it. Most of the Night's Watch didn't truly know what was out here. He just hoped that being a vampire was enough. He and Serana took a seat away from the fire. He was still a fledgling as Serana called him and she didn't want him getting to close to fire or to be out in the sun unless he was fully covered from it.

Serana unhooked and rested her sword next to her against the log they were using for a seat. Benjen couldn't help but stare at the blade, almost as if it was connected to him somehow. He'd noticed that it glowed a deep red when Serana held it, but until now he hadn't been sure whether or not he wanted to know about it. "That's not any ordinary blade, is it?" He asked finally.

She looked down to sword and frowned. "No, it's not." She slowly drew it from its scabbard, blood red energies darted down the blade in jagged yet intricate patterns as she did. "It was my father's sword, before... Before he died..."

"I'm sorry."

Serana shook her head. "Don't be. He had to. He wasn't really my father anymore. What he wanted to do..." She sighed before continuing. "But let's not get into all that now... He wanted a true vampire's blade and he made an offering to Molag Bal. The blood of an innocent was forged into the blade and then blessed by Bal himself." Benjen looked horrified but Serana continued. "The enchantment only works when being wielded by a vampire, and when the blade touches blood its enchantment activates. The sword will drain the life force, magicka, and stamina of whoever it cuts and gift it to the wielder."

"Like being bitten by a vampire." Benjen concluded. Serana nodded and looked like she was about to say something when she suddenly stiffened. A moment later Benjen felt something. As if a deep cold hand suddenly wrapped itself around his soul. "Do you feel that too?" He asked her. She nodded again.

Ravens began swarming around their campsite. There were more than Benjen had ever seen gathered together at once. The sound of them all cawing to each other was nearly deafening. He felt the cold slowly creep up into his body as the ravens went silent and a large snow flurry slowly crept up on them.

Benjen focused his vision into his vampiric sight as Serana had taught him. His sight cut through the snow and he could see bright vibrant auras enveloping several slow lumbering shapes heading directly towards them. He couldn't get an exact count but he guessed there were over thirty. Benjen couldn't make out what they were, but he could tell that they were not alive. He turned to his men and shouted, "Rangers! We've got company!" The four remaining Night's Watch rangers drew their swords and stood ready with Benjen and Serana.

Unnatural animalistic cries ripped through the air as the creatures charged their position. Serana let loose a chain lightning bolt into the mass of undead, shattering several. Benjen raised his sword and swung it down on the nearest undead. The blade sliced off a portion of its head and lodged into its shoulder. For a brief moment Benjens's vibrant orange eyes locked with its dully glowing lifeless blue ones and Benjen couldn't help but almost feel familiar with it. The moment passed and he quickly removed his sword and swung at its midsection cutting it in half. Another undead screamed and ran at him with a dagger drawn, ready to stab him with. Benjen sidestepped the creature and cut off its arm. Before the creature could react he swung his sword again and cut off its head. He thought that would have finished it off but he saw the now headless, one-armed undead still running after him. Two swings of his sword, cutting off its other arm and removing its legs seemed to disable it.

He heard a scream from one of his rangers and looked to see him surrounded by three of the undead, all stabbing him multiple times. Using his faster speed and reflexes he ran up and cut the three down before they knew what hit them. He caught the ranger as he fell to the ground, but he was already dead. As one of the undead tried to crawl back towards them Benjen stomped on it, pinning it in place and stabbed it multiple times until it stopped moving. After another quick glance around the battle he saw that another one of his ranger's was on the ground dead and the other two were standing back to back fighting off an ever increasing group of undead. Benjen closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the spells the Serana had taught him. He opened his eyes and let out as strong of a chain lightning bolt as he could. The bolt blew it primary target to pieces but only partially injured the four other others it hit. It was enough though, as Benjen and the rangers managed to cut the rest down. He looked to Serana and she seemed to be holding her own. She fired repeated lightning bolts at the remaining undead and those that managed to get too close she cut down with her enchanted sword. Benjen did notice that the ones she cut with her sword didn't seem to try to get back up after.

Another scream pierced through the air. This time it was different though, not animalistic and grumbly, but high pitched and almost glass like. More undead charged their group, but there was another figure that came towards them also. Benjen couldn't tell what it was at first, it wasn't undead, but it wasn't quite alive either. Not until it came closer into his view could he make out its features. Its skin was wrinkled and tight against its body and white as snow. Though its face was blank and emotionless, its glowing blue eyes seemed to radiate disgust when looking at Benjen's rangers, yet when it looked at him and Serana it almost looked confused. The White Walker raised a spear that was made of what appeared to ice and charged at Serana as the rest of the undead charged Benjen and his two rangers.

Serana fired a lightning bolt at the walker, only for it to sidestep the attack. It thrust its spear at her, which she also dodged. It swung again at her head and again at her chest, both times she dodged out of the way. Serana, growing tired of being on the defensive swung her sword at the walker, which was in turn parried. The walker's expressionless face turned to shock momentarily when their blades collided. It took as step back only to attack again, this time with more furiously than it had before. Serana was still able to match the walker, dodging and parrying all of its attacks. The two of them eventually locked weapons together and Serana thinking quickly shot a lightning bolt at the walker's face. It screamed in pain and stumbled backwards. Serana charged it and tried to cut at its head, but the walker recovered quicker than she expected and swung its spear into her head, sending her stumbling down.

Benjen seeing this forgot about the undead he was in the middle of fighting and ran towards the walker. As it was raising its spear to stab Serana on the ground he fired a lightning bolt at it. The bolt made contact but was not enough to injure the walker. It was however enough to distract it. The walker turned to face him as Benjen swung his blade down at it. The walker parried the swing with its spear shattering Benjen's sword as the two weapons made contact. As Benjen stood stunned the walker punched him in the chest, sending his tumbling backwards before turning its attention back to Serana.

She'd righted herself up and once again went on the offensive. The walker still was able to dodge or deflect all of her attacks and neither was able to gain an advantage over the other. Serana tried to fire another lightning bolt at the walker, only this time before she could charge it the walker grabbed her arm and twisted it back, breaking it. Serana screamed in pain and in a rage madly swung her sword at it. The walker dodged her swing and hit her in the side before she could recover. Serana stumbled to the ground and tried to quickly right herself but the walker was faster, trusting its spear through her chest. Serana fell to the ground coughing blood as the walker withdrew the spear and started to walk away. In a burst of rage Serana jumped to her feet and charged at the walker, but it was once again quicker than her. The walker swung its fist into her chest, sending her flying backwards into a tree. She fell to ground again and did not rise this time.

Benjen slowly picked himself off the ground, his blood boiling after witnessing what happened to Serana. As the walker once again turned its eyes on him he felt something inside him snap. He doubled over as skin began to blacken and boil. Red streaks ran across his body, splitting his skin open as they went. He reeled back and his normal flesh exploded off. Benjen's skin was now a shade of ashen grey, his face took on the shape of something between human and a bat, his fingertips elongated and ended in long claws, and two thin boney wings protruded from his back. The walker stood before Benjen, awestruck at his transformation. Benjen took the distraction to charge the walker.

He slammed into the walker with his full force, slashing upwards with his claws, and sending the walker fly backwards several yards. He charged forwards again before the walker had ever hit the ground. Upon reaching it he slashed it with his claws multiple times before launching it into the air again. After it landed, the walker slowly lifted itself off the ground and all of the wounds inflicted by Benjen's claws rapidly closed and it began to close the distance between them. Benjen's magicka reserves hadn't regenerated yet and his claws were having no effect. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the walker's spear laying in the snow and without thinking, he picked it up and threw the spear at the walker, hitting it dead center in its chest. Its face briefly turned from expressionless to stunned before it fell to its knees and exploded into a pile of ice.

With the battle over red streak once again began darting down his body before the grey skinned creature dissolved away, leaving Benjen's normal form standing naked in the snow. He fell to his knees exhausted from his transformation, before composing himself to inspect the remains of the walker. He gazed across the battle field and at his two remaining rangers.

"You two!" He shouted at them, "Go back to Castle Black. Tell the Lord Commander what's happened!"

"You're not coming?" One of them asked exasperated, obviously tired for the fight. Benjen shook his head. "You want us to tell him everything?"

"Yes…" He said after a pause. "Tell him everything." Benjen turned and started to walk away when he heard a pained groan from behind him. He looked and saw it had come from Serana who had managed to turn herself onto her side. He rushed over to her, trampling over several still twitching pieces of the disembodied wights to get to her. She was wheezing in pain and her blood had pooled underneath her and while her eyes were partially open they were pale and glazed over. He didn't know how long she'd last but he'd be damned if he didn't try something. He called his horse to him and once it arrived he lifted Serana onto its back and tied her to it so she wouldn't fall off. "Take her with you." He said to the rangers. "Don't let her die. Leave. Now."

They looked confused as to how exactly they would keep her alive, but didn't ask any questions. "What about them?" One of them asked, pointing to their fallen brothers.

"I'll deal with them." Benjen said.

Neither were pleased with the answer but after seeing was Benjen had just done, weren't about to speak against him. "And what are you going to be doing out here by yourself then?"

Benjen was silent for a moment before he answered. "The Watch can't fight off both a wildling army and the White Walkers… So I'm going to destroy the wildling's army… I'm going to kill Mance Rayder.

* * *

**A few things to clear up preemptively. I thought I'd list the enchantments on Yorren's weapons to avoid confusion. As to some complaints about the list of weapons he has, it's what he had in my game so deal with it.**

**Two Handed Sword - Fortify Two handed**

**One Handed Swords - Fire Damage, Frost Damage (no I didn't do that just for the story)**

**Bow - Damage Magicka**

**Daggers - Drain Health, ****Paralyze**

**As for the fight at the end with the White Walker, I didn't know what exactly what should be able to hurt them. It's heavily implied in the show that they are vulnerable to weapons made from fire, obsidian and valyrian steel. The later being magical, but since obsidian is a volcanic rock and (correct me if I'm wrong) as far as I know there are no ****volcanoes north of the wall, so are they magical too? They obviously have a magical defense against normal weapons, but what would happen if they were hit with a normal weapon that overcame that defense? So if you don't like how the fight went try not to get too enraged. Suggestions are always welcome.**

**Now as to the long wait. Real life really decided that it wanted to fuck with me for the several months. In addition to my normal limited time amount of I have to spend writing I've had multiple car problems with multiple cars including a transmission going out on one and fuel system problems on another. I've had family problems including my wife massively overloading on collage classes, a sister who destroyed her decade long relationship and won't stop trying to get everyone to fix it for her, and my uncle had heart surgery. The biggest blow however was that my computer died. I'm not sure what happened to it but one day it worked fine, the next EVERYTHING was dead. Power supply, motherboard, hard drive, everything. And me being the dumbass I am forgot to backup this chapter when it had been almost completed. It was completely gone along with several gigabytes of other documents, pictures, and music. To say I was bummed would be a massive understatement. Once I'd gotten my "new" computer (it's an almost ten year old hand me down since I can afford to replace my dead one) up and running I honestly just didn't have much interest in working on any of my projects, writing and otherwise. But I'm back for now and I'm hoping I can avoid another seven moth delay.**

**Sorry again for the delay and for the long A/N and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Next Time: The Thalmor start stirring up shit.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I can already read the messages, 'why'd you waste so much space on Lydia?', or 'I don't don't like Whiterun, stop writing about stuff there'. It will all be relevant later. Have patience young ones. Also is femslash not always relevant anyway?**

* * *

The sun began to set over Whiterun; leaving the sky in a beautiful mix of golds, reds, purples. Lydia stood outside Breezehome solemnly musing to herself about how inside were likely the happiest people in the city. Lucia had turned thirteen today and over a dozen of the children in Whiterun had come over to the house to celebrate. Even Braith had come as the two girls had, to many people's surprise, managed to get along after Lucia had punched her months ago. The one friend who hadn't shown up was Babette. The girl could never be found during the day and the Companions could never find the girl at night either yet she managed to find and spend time with Lucia. That made Lydia uncomfortable, but so far the girl had done nothing to harm Lucia so she worried from a distance. The party had ended nearly an hour ago and the last of the guests had left. Lydia was thrilled to see Lucia genuinely happy for the first time since Yorren had disappeared. Lucia had also been happy about her sudden growth and now she had quickly become the tallest girl her age.

"I'm not too late for the party am I?" Lydia turned and saw Aela heading toward her with a large object completely wrapped in linen in her arms.

"Is that what I think it is?" She asked nodding at the package.

"Aye it is." Lydia started to voice and objection but Aela continued over her. "She's been training with Athis for nearly a year. She's ready to own a real weapon. Are you going to tell me that you didn't hold a sword in your hand when you were her age?"

Lydia shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. You're right."

The two women went inside and were greeted by an ecstatic Lucia. "Happy birthday little wolf." Aela said handing Lucia the package. "This is from all of the Companions." Lucia took the package and cut the strings tying it together and pulled away the linen cloth to reveal a freshly forged Skyforge Steel sword. "I brought it over as soon as Eorlund finished it."

"I thought only actual Companions could get these?"

"You're a Harbinger's daughter. We wouldn't stomach the thought of you wielding anything else. Plus you're only one year from being old enough to officially join."

"But I thought Vilkas was in charge now?"

"Aye. That he is. But your father was still the Harbinger before Vilkas and we all still hold great respect for him. Vilkas was insistent that it be made for you."

Lucia said nothing as she ran hand up and down over the intricate engravings in the blade before dropping it and jumping in Aela to hug her. "Thank you! This is the best!" she almost shouted. As soon as Aela released her she grabbed the sword and ran upstairs to her room.

"Be careful with that!" Lydia shouted.

"I know Aunt Lydia" Lucia replied. Soon after Lydia and Aela heard the sound of wood being cut and falling to the floor.

"Perhaps someone should get her a new training dummy." Aela mussed.

"She's been going through them awfully fast of late." They heard another noise from Lucia's room. This time it was a loud dull thud. "Did you just put a hole in the wall?" Lydia shouted up the stairs again.

"Sorry!"

Lydia shook her head and groaned while Aela stifled a laugh. "Children." She turned around towards the door. "Well I'll be going now. You two have a good night."

"Aela wait. I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Oh?"

"I've been thinking and I think I want to officially join the Companions."

Aela turned back to Lydia. "Really now? What's brought this on all of a sudden? Not that I'm complaining of course."

"It's just been so long since I've actually gone out and done anything. I'm a fighter, and even with Yorren gone I still need to fight."

Aela couldn't help but wear a huge grin. "Excellent, your trial will be tomorrow and I'll be your shield sister."

"You sound like you've been waiting for this for a while now."

"Oh yes I have. You've all but been an official Companion for years now. It's about time you joined where you belong. The trial is just a formality."

"Alright, what are we doing?"

"The Valtheim Towers to the East have been taken over by bandits again and we're going to clean them out. Shouldn't be any trouble at all."

"Again? Didn't someone collect a bounty on bandits there a few weeks ago?"

Aela shrugged. "It's a fortified position on a well-traveled road. It's the perfect spot. You should get some rest, we leave at first light tomorrow."

With that Aela left and Lydia went up the stairs passing Lucia's room. The girl was happily hacking away at little was left of her training dummy and didn't notice Lydia behind her. Lydia continued passed her into Yorren's old room and closed the doors before falling into the bed and going quickly to sleep from the long day.

She was woken up earlier than she'd have liked to the next morning by someone pounding on the front door. She looked out the window and saw the sun was just barely beginning to rise. She didn't think that Aela had meant this early in the morning. Still wearing she clothes from the previous day she sauntered down the stairs, surprised that Lucia hadn't been woken up. Lydia was just as surprised to see instead of Aela there was an Imperial soldier knocking on the door with a letter for her.

_To the Former Honorary Quaestor Lydia, Daughter of Tharskir Broken Helm _it read. She scoffed at the Former part in her title, though she had made it clear that she was only willing to serve alongside Yorren as was her duty as his housecarl so she wasn't at all surprised. That day when the two joined the legion was one of the few days that Yorren had visibly shown fear. He'd been rejecting Tullius' requests for him to join, until Tullius all but blackmailed him. She'd never forget what he said that day. Yorren was wanted for murder back in Cyrodiil. The name wasn't someone Lydia had recognized but when Tullius said it Yorren turned pale. Tullius had said that if Yorren joined the legion that Tullius would personally make sure his name would cleared, he would be made an officer, and be given a small unit to command, but if not he had an obligation as a sworn servant of the Empire to report him. Yorren had no choice but to join.

Yorren's appointment to an officer position didn't sit well with many of the other officers in the Legion, despite his status as the Dragonborn. That was nothing uncommon though; Lydia found that her Thane would more often than he liked be handed titles that many others worked their entire lives for: Legate, Harbinger, and Thane of over half the holds. She felt that he was more than worthy of all of them for all he'd done for Skyrim despite all the others who were resentful of him.

Drawing herself out of her memories Lydia opened the letter and immediately wished she hadn't. The news that everyone had been dreading had finally come true. The peace between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion was gone. The Dominion had launched a surprise invasion of Cyrodiil and had taken both Anvil and New Kvatch before any kind of defense could be mounted against them. Even by the time Imperial forces were able to be mustered they were only so far able to slow down the invaders and were slowly bring pushed back towards Skingrad. The Legion was requesting her immediate return to duty to assist in the defense of the Imperial City.

Lydia didn't need to think about what she would do. She crumpled the letter and threw it. At Tullius' assurance she was no longer a part of the Legion so she was not obligated to obey the letter. And if the Dominion did invade Skyrim, which she had no doubt that they eventually would, she would be needed most here in her home. There was also Lucia. Lydia refused to abandon her; she'd been through too much already. She would have to tell the Jarl, assuming he hadn't already been told. She quickly headed back up to her room and stripped off her simple clothes for something more suited for the Jarl's palace and hurried out the door. Fortunately the streets of Whiterun were not yet crowded as no shops were open yet, unfortunately Lydia had arrived to Dragonsreach too early for the Jarl. Irileth was around to take Lydia's message and assured her that Balgruuf would get it once he had risen. Lydia had never known Irileth to go back on her word and left the palace satisfied.

The sun had fully risen by the time Lydia left the palace and as she was returning home she ran into Aela who was heading out to meet her.

"Out for a morning stroll?" Aela asked.

"I had an emergency message to deliver to the Jarl."

Aela's happy demeanor quickly changed to worry. "What's happened?"

"I just received a message from the Legion. The Dominion has invaded Cyrodiil."

"Oh gods..."

"They wanted me to go to the Imperial City to fight, but I'm not officially in the Legion anymore so I'm not going. When the war comes here I'll be needed here."

Aela nodded in agreement. "So are you ready for your trial?"

"You still want to go through with that now?" Lydia asked shocked.

"Why not? It will take your mind off the news if nothing else." She paused. Lydia said nothing so she continued. "The remaining Jarls will told of the news soon enough and prepare accordingly. Also Cyrodiil is far from Skyrim. It will be some time before the war makes its way here. Until it does there's no point in sitting around and waiting."

Lydia sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'll go get ready."

The two made their way back to Breezehome and when they got inside Lucia was up and excited to tell Aela all about how she'd destroyed her training dummy with her new sword last night. Lydia made her way upstairs and opened the chest the held her Blades armor and stripped out of her clothes to begin the lengthy process of donning her armor. Lydia at times missed her old Steel armor despite its offering less protection as it was much easier to get on which she was reminded of when Aela came upstairs looking for her after a half hour had passed.

"Do you need any help in there?" Aela asked through the door.

"Yes actually." Aela opened the door and entered. Lydia turned her back to Aela and tried to point to her shoulder. "The pauldron strap needs to be fastened here." she pointed to a hole in the backplate of her armor. "I can't reach to tie it."

"I should warn you though, I'm not too skilled at putting heavy armor on someone." She looped the leather strap through the hole and tied it back around itself.

"It's not that har..." Lydia was jerked back hard. "Too tight..." she winced.

"Sorry." Aela said as she tried to untie her knot. "See what I mean?" She struggled with the knot she'd made and in doing so, had managed to cause Lydia's chestplate to fall off. Lydia jumped out of the way to avoid it landing on her foot and her quick motion caused the blue undergarment to fall down as well, leaving her topless. The two women starred at each other in shock for a moment before Lydia turned bright red and covered herself.

She pulled the undergarment back on and refastened her chestplate. "Shall we umm… try again?" This time Aela was successful at tying the straps for her shoulders, Lydia was able to put on the rest of her armor without help. She grabbed her sword and shield and the two headed out to the stables to rent horses for the three hour ride.

They didn't talk much at first until Aela broke the silence once Whiterun had faded out of view. "So if you don't mind my asking just how close were you and Yorren?"

"We were very close, best friends even. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious is all."

"What about you? You knew him longer than I had, how close were the two of you?"

"Aye I did know him longer, but not by much, plus you spent more time around him than I did once he discovered his abilities. I wouldn't say we were best friends, but good friends. We were shield siblings I trusted him with my life and he trusted me with his." Another few minutes of silence passed. "But I must ask, how much of each other did you two see in all your travels?"

Lydia gave her an inquisitive look. She wasn't sure where Aela was leading the conversation but was interested to find out. "We saw everything." Aela grinned. "But it wasn't like that. We never slept together. That's not to say that he didn't want to."

"Oh? It's not typical for a housecarl to deny their Thane."

"I didn't deny him, he never ordered me." She paused. "It's just that… I don't like men, in that way."

Aela raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" They came to the bottom of a hill and saw the towers were close. "We'll have to finish this later."

As they arrived at the base of the towers Lydia took note of how many bandits she could see. There was one at the top of each of the two towers, one standing on the bridge between them, and one standing out front on the road. She figured there would be more hiding inside the towers out of sight as well. They stopped as the redguard woman outside ran up to them with a mace drawn. "This here's a toll road. You'll have to pay us two hundred gold each if you want cross."

Aela rolled her eyes. "Like I've never heard that one before."

"This isn't a game! Pay up or else!"

"Shall we?" Lydia nodded and threw her shield at the woman's face knocking her down. The two jumped off their horses and Lydia stabbed the woman through the chest before she could rise. An arrow whizzed past her and she heard a scream from the top of the tower. Aela readied another arrow and followed Lydia into the tower.

"I'll take the bridge; you go up top and cover me!" Lydia commanded. Aela nodded in confirmation. The split up and Lydia charged out onto the bridge. She shield bashed the bandit she'd seen earlier, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling over the edge. Two more bandits charged out of the second tower swords drawn, and she saw another archer come out from behind the second tower. She raised her shield to block the arrows that came flying at her and ran forward to meet the two on the bridge. She looked up when she heard a scream and saw the archer from the top of tower falling to the ground with an arrow in his eye. He hit the ground with a dull thud and a crack that told Lydia he was dead.

The first bandit, a male nord in furs swung his sword high, but instead of blocking with her shield Lydia sidestepped and shield bashed him in the back. The second was a female Orc in steel plate with a double bladed ax. Lydia ducked under both the orc's ax and the arrow fire that Aela and the last archer were exchanging. She nearly backed into the nord who was either to dumb or too drunk to react since he didn't take the opportunity to attack. Lydia didn't give him the opportunity to as she stabbed him in the foot and as he knelt over in pain she grabbed him and shoved him into the Orc woman. One final arrow flew over Lydia's head into the last archer sending him plummeting down into the river.

The Orc slammed the nord's head into the side of the archway they were under and charged Lydia again. She swung madly forcing Lydia back as ducked and dodged out of the way of the orc's ax. The orc swung sideways and lost her footing for a moment but it was enough for Lydia to make her move. She rushed in and slammed into the orc with her shield, causing the orc to drop her ax. As the orc stumbled down Lydia changed to an ice pick grip on her sword and stabbed it into the orc's chest through her shoulder. Lydia withdrew her blade and the orc fell over dead. She turned around and looked up at Aela with a beaming grin until she saw someone behind her. It was the first bandit she'd knocked off the bridge; the fall apparently was not fatal. Aela must have heard him as she dropped to the ground just in time to avoid his sword. She spun around quickly and came up with her dagger and plunged it into his throat.

After breathing a sigh of relief and the two did a quick search to make sure there were no bandits hiding Lydia asked, "So how did I do?"

Aela chuckled "You passed with flying colors."

"I feel like I should have done better. Out of practice I guess."

"You made it out of that fight without a mark on you and the blood of your enemies on your sword. I'd say you did just fine." She leaned against the wall in what they assumed was the leader's room as it was the only room with a bed. "You know there's nothing like a good fight to make you feel alive. It's so invigorating; so, arousing." Aela gave Lydia a sultry look.

"Why do I get the feeling what happened in my room wasn't an accident?" Lydia asked putting her hands in her hips.

Aela smiled. "I know you've been attracted to me for a long time. I can smell it on you a mile away." Lydia blushed and shuffled her feet. Aela moved closer to her. "I'll even bet that you wanted to ask me if I like what I saw."

After a moment Lydia smiled. "Well, did you?"

Aela's smile grew wider as she walked back over to the spot she'd been standing earlier and began to gracefully strip off her armor with Lydia watching intently. Lydia made a note of every scar that danced across Aela's back as she watched Aela's lean form flex with each movement. As the remaining garments fell and Aela's bare skin was revealed in full, Lydia stared amazed at the tattoos Aela was able keep hidden under her normal revealing attire. Aela turned standing naked before Lydia.

"Do you?" She asked.

Lydia answered in kind, stripping off her armor and undergarments, before she walked to Aela and the two naked women wrapped their arms around each other, coiling together like serpents.

* * *

**Yorren**

"You said you'd come get me if anyone were to retaliate against us!" Yorren yelled at Namia; his red was red and seething.

"You ordered me to watch the queen. Not her brother." She replied bitterly.

Yorren huffed and paced back and forth across Ned's chambers. "Have you found anything as to Jamie's whereabouts?" He asked one of his officers.

"We have heard from a gate guard that Ser Jamie and his guards fled the city."

Ned groaned as he adjusted his position. His leg was bandaged and badly injured, but he had not lost the use of it. "Send your men after him. Bring him here alive." He said to Yorren.

"Do it." Yorren in turn said to the officer, who saluted and left the room. He turned to Namia. "Did you at least find anything on queen?"

"Yes actually. I searched her chambers and found a jar of quicksilver hidden away."

"Maester Pycell said earlier that quicksilver had been stolen from him. Do you think Cersei did it?" Ned asked.

"It would seem so. But why? It doesn't make for a good poison. It doesn't mix with anything so it can't really be hidden in someone's food, and it can be absorbed through the skin making it almost as dangerous to the person doing the poisoning. Plus any half decent examination of a body would find it immediately. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Yorren asked.

"The symptoms of quicksilver poisoning are very similar to those of a severe head injury." Yorren and Ned exchanged worried looks. "If Cersei was able to successfully poison Robert with quicksilver in a slow enough way it would simply look like the injury you gave had been worsening. They likely wouldn't do an examination if he died since everyone would assume he died from the blow to his head."

"You really think that Cersei is trying to kill Robert?"

"She's always hated him." Ned replied.

"Yorren, I think it's best you leave the city." Namia told him.

"I'll not run from this."

"Nearly the entire city is against you after that fight you had with Jamie. They don't care that he attack you first. Now with Cersei going to kill Robert and blame it on you..."

"If I run it will look all the more like I'm guilty."

"That won't matter. Yorren, we're foreigners here. This land is not like Skyrim. These people distrust us at best, and hate us at worst. They'll look for any reason to put your head on a spike, and right now they have one."

"She's right." Ned interjected. "You've done enough to help, but this isn't your fight. I don't want to your blood spilled over this. If they think you've murdered the King I won't be able to protect you."

"And what about you?" Yorren asked Namia.

"I can take care of myself in ways you can't. I'll be fine." Namia did something next that Yorren never thought she would ever do, and hugged him. "I just got my brother back after a lifetime of being apart. I don't want you taken from me again."

He could tell she was being sincere with him and wrapped his arms around her. "Alright. I'll go. I'll meet up with the soldier sent to capture Jamie."

"No." Ned said. "I have one final favor to ask of you. Arya and Sansa; take them to Winterfell. It isn't safe for them here."

Yorren nodded and let go of Namia. "I'll make sure they get there safely."

"I'll send you a message in a few days' time. You may not like how it gets delivered, but no one will be able to intercept it." Namia told him.

Ned continued. "Once your soldiers have captured the Kingslayer I'll have my men retrieve him to be brought here. It would be best after that your forces go back up to the North until everything here settles down." Yorren nodded. "Sansa will be less willing to leave than Arya. I'll tell her myself. Take the Old Gate out of the city and try to avoid the Kingsroad as much as possible."

"Aye. I'll keep them safe." With than Yorren left the room.

* * *

**Ned**

He hated what he was about to do as he painfully sauntered to Sansa's room. Sansa was but a naive young girl and wouldn't understand why she had to all of a sudden sent away. Ned sighed as he knocked on her door.

"Come in." Sansa said. Ned entered the room and saw her sitting on her bed fawning over a necklace. She looked up with one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen her have. "Look father." She held out the necklace to him. "Look what Joffrey just gave me. Isn't it beautiful?"

Ned's stomach twisted. This couldn't have been worse timing. "Sansa dear, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Ned sat on the bed beside her. "I need to send you back to Winterfell."

"What? Why? I like it here! I'm to marry Joffrey!"

"Things have changed. We'll find you a better match with someone worthy of you."

Sansa jumped off the bed. "But he IS worthy father! I love him!"

"You're in love with the idea of him, Sansa."

She was in tears by now. "Why!? Why are you doing this to me!?"

"It's for your protection. It's not safe here. You and Arya will go with Yorren. He'll..."

"Yorren!?" She interrupted. "No! I don't like him! He hurt the king! He hurt Ser Jamie!"

"Sansa..." Ned stood up.

"NO! I won't go with him!" She turned and ran out of the room and down the hallway.

"Sansa! SANSA!" Ned yelled after her but it was no use. He wouldn't be able to run after her, not with his leg like it was. He hung his head and sighed and dreaded what the consequences of this would be.

* * *

**Yorren**

Yorren and Arya stood next to three horses that he'd bought just outside the city gate. Once he'd explained that her father was sending them back to Winterfell, Arya had come with him without argument. Both had managed to quietly make their way out of the city thanks to a large set of hooded robes that Yorren had draped over his armor.

Arya groaned beside him. "How much longer is this going to be? She should have been here by now."

"I don't know. Your father said she might not be willing to leave."

"Stupid Sansa..." She muttered.

"Be nice to you sister Arya. She's the only one you have." Arya snorted. "You're lucky that you have a family that loves you; I didn't."

"What was your life like growing up?"

Yorren spied the stable hand who'd been watching them wearily. "I'll tell you some other time." Yorren saw another cloaked figure walking towards them and thought for a moment that Sansa had finally arrived, until they removed their hood anyway.

"You lot should have gone by now, what's going on?" Namia scolded. She looked around and asked another question answering her first. "Where's Sansa?"

"I don't know. She never arrived." Moments later the sound of bells tolling filled the air. They'd never heard them before and that made Yorren more nervous than he liked to admit.

"You!" Namia yelled at the stable hand. "What do those bells mean?"

"Someone important's died's what they mean."

"Gods no... Robert." Yorren said.

The stable hand had walked up to the group now. "Hey wait a second... I know you..." He never got to finish his sentence. Namia grabbed the man's face and sliced his throat open. When she let go he dropped to the ground with a stunned expression now on his face permanently.

"I'll find Sansa and get her out of the city myself! You two, go now!" Namia commanded.

Yorren nodded and jumped on his horse. Arya did the same and the two were off in a gallop.

"What's going on!?" Arya yelled from her horse.

"I'll tell you later!" Yorren yelled back. "Gods what have we done..." He muttered to himself as they rode off.

* * *

**Ned**

Ned and his men had been frantically searching the halls of the Red Keep for Sansa when they heard the bells tolling. His heart sank as he knew what it meant; his friend was dead. Ned nearly collapsed into the wall, only to regain his balance a moment later. He would have to wait to grieve, however. No doubt the Queen would quickly send men to retrieve both himself and Yorren for supposedly murdering the king. He could only hope that Sansa somehow made it to him and he got both her and Arya out of the city. Realizing he would never find Sansa now, especially in his condition Ned made his way back to his chambers in the Tower of the Hand.

Upon arrival he saw Littlefinger leaning against the wall, waiting for him. "It would seem we have run out of time for whatever it was you planned to do about the Royal children."

"Not entirely." Ned huffed as he unlocked the door and went inside.

Littlefinger followed. "What then are you planning on doing?"

"I'll convene a meeting of the small counsel and present them with the evidence. Robert had no legitimate children. The throne must go to Stannis."

"Stannis is loved by no one, putting him on the throne would be a fool's errand. Plus the evidence you have gathered is sketchy at best." He leaned in close to Ned. "I know the small counsel. They won't listen if this book is all you have to present to them."

"The quicksilver."

"Quicksilver?"

"I have it on good authority that Queen Cersei was using it to poison Robert. An examination will show it."

"An examination like that would fall under Maester Pycell, who would surly find no evidence of a poisoning."

"He has a sworn duty to..."

"He has a sworn duty to the person lining his pockets with gold. And if I may ask, what has become of our foreign friend?"

"I set him out of the city, to take my daughters back to Winterfell." He opted not to tell Littlefinger about Sansa running away just yet.

Littlefinger nodded. "A wise decision my Lord. But I must also ask if you know how it will look to the counsel that the man going to be accused of murdering the king is sent away by you?"

Ned nodded. "Aye. I know how it looks. What would have me do then?"

Littlefinger smirked. "We could control him. Make Joffrey our puppet while you rule the realm as it should be ruled. And should the time come that Joffrey becomes too unruly, then we deal with him."

Ned felt him temper rise quickly. "The throne belongs to Stannis by right. What you propose is treason."

"Only if we lose."

"The Lannisters come under my roof and attempt to murder my son, they murder Robert, and now they pin that murder on another of my friends. I will never, bend the knee to any of them." Ned said coldly.

"It was merely a suggestion, my Lord. So, you can't convince the counsel and you won't play the game. What options have you left?"

Ned was silent for a moment. "I'll gather what guards I can and arrest Cersei."

"And what of Joffrey? Would you have the boy arrested for being a bastard?"

"No. I will decide how to best deal with him later. I trust that the city watch will keep the peace in the mean time?"

Littlefinger chuckled. "Ah yes, the city watch. When the Queen declares one King and the Hand declares another, whose peace does the city watch keep?" Ned didn't answer. "The man's who pays them. And you just so happen to in the same room as him, and you have but to ask."

"Will you help me with this?" Ned asked.

"I must be honest. Your lady wife would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you. I'll make sure the city watch is behind you my Lord."

"Thank you Lord Baelish." Littlefinger bowed and left the room.

An hour later with as many Stark guards as he could manage to find, Ned met with Littlefinger and a group of goldcloaks outside of the Red Keep's throne room. The two men nodded at each other and marched into the throne room. As expected Joffrey was sitting in the Iron Throne with his mother to his right, and the Kingsguard standing in a line in front. Ned was relieved at least that Sansa was not present.

"Have you come to bent the knee to your new king?" Joffrey spoke in an almost mocking tone.

Ned stood thinking as to whether he was sure about what he was about to do. "I would suggest you do so Lord Stark." Cersei said. "For your daughter's sake."

"Sansa?" Ned said frightfully. "Where is she?"

"Safe. For now anyway. Though that depends entirely on you. We know that the South does not agree with you Starks and are willing to let you return to the frozen wasteland you call home, free of any obligations as Hand if you merely bend the knee and hand over the foreigner."

"What do you want with him?"

"He murdered my husband and nearly did the same to my brother. I want justice done." She stated coldly.

After a pause Ned began, "He did not murder Robert, you did, and Joffrey has no claim to the throne. He is a bastard with no royal blood."

"LIAR!" Joffrey screamed as he shot up from his throne.

Cersei slowly rose from her seat seething. "How DARE you spew these baseless lies! Before my husband's body is even cold you come in here and try to usurp the throne from his son. Seize him!" Ordered to the Kingsguard, who drew their swords.

"You used a bottle of quicksilver you have hidden in your chambers to poison Robert. Likely the same bottle that was stolen from Pycell." He turned to his guards and the goldcloaks. "Arrest the Queen." Ned's men drew their weapons as well. "Order your men to stand down your grace. No one needs to die today."

Had Ned been looking behind he would have seen the silent nod between Littlefinger and the Captain of the city watch. "Now!" He shouted and the goldcloaks turned on the Stark guards. Ned and the Kingsguard stood dumbfounded as most of the Stark guards were slaughtered before they could react. The ones that did were quickly overwhelmed and cut down like the rest.

Littlefinger then rushed up behind Ned and put a knife to his throat. "You never should have trusted me."

* * *

**2:00 AM about 1 mile off the coast of Daggerfall**

A man dressed in dark blue hooded robes casually strode through the decks of his gently rocking ship to a room sealed with a magical spell. He saluted the guards posted at the door, who returned the salute and moved out of his way. They were dressed in black armor with a full face mask. Gold trim outlined the intricate patterns that resembled feathers along their legs and shoulders. These soldiers were the elite of the elite, trained from birth to be remorseless killers. They had set out on this mission to guard their new weapon. Sinyalmo cast the spell to unlock the door and opened it. Inside was the latest weapon prototype that Sinyalmo had worked on personally. He'd assured the Prelate that this weapon would work. It wouldn't explode like the first had, and wouldn't create a storm that could not be contained after like the second. This weapon was not so crude as to use souls to power it as the last had done either. Objects that used souls needed to be recharged eventually and they would likely not find another group of powerful mages all in the same room that needed disposing of again anytime soon.

Sinyalmo eyed his work of art, at the staff that sat suspended by magic before him. He had lead an expedition for over forty years in a land to the far west known as the shadow lands, to find the artifacts that were used in his weapon's creation. The main body of the staff was a mostly hollow tube made from a silvery pearlescent metal, with glowing blue runes etched around the outside. In the middle was a simple leather grip and above that sat the activation mechanism. Four handles sat spring loaded open around the perimeter of the staff like flower pedals, each with a thin black crystal running down the inside of the handle. The staff had a grove for each handle with a corresponding black crystal that then ran down through the center of the staff. Above the handles, four hexagonal black crystals orbited around a raised section also with corresponding alcoves for the orbiting crystals. A large black crystal with four points shaped much like a crown adorned the top. To a lesser informed person, the crystals would all have been mistaken for the black soul gems that adorned the previous staff. The less informed person would be wrong.

As Sinyalmo wrapped his hand around the staff it began to hum. He could almost feel the staff's hunger. He gladly obliged. Sinyalmo made his way to the deck of the ship flanked by soldiers on either side. Once above deck the Brenton city of Daggerfall could be easily seen on the clear night. A fellow mage nodded at him as he approached the bow of the ship. With one hand he pointed the staff in the direction of the human city, and with the other closed the handles. The orbiting crystals froze in place before snapping into their slots on the staff, with then began glow a vibrant bluish purple. Roiling black clouds of dark energy quickly formed over the city on the horizon. Once the cloud had completely enveloped the city purple bolts of lightning began striking everything within the city walls. Sinyalmo smiled as a dull orange glow grew in the city as the storm ravaged through building. If he listened carefully he could even hear the distant screams of the citizens as the once great city of Daggerfall was being reduced to fiery ruins. AS the last remaining tower exploded after begin struck by a large lightning bolt, Sinyalmo released the activation handles and the energy storm dissipated as quickly as it had formed. The crystals returned to orbiting around the staff and their color reverted to their dull translucent black.

Sinyalmo could barely stifle his laughter. He had just proven all who'd doubted him wrong and the burning ruins of Daggerfall were his proof. He might even be able to convince the Prelate to allow new excavations in the Shadow Lands. The artifacts that he'd found and built into the staff did not draw their power from mortal souls, but instead fed on and channeled the energies of the endless void itself. Were they able to build more weapons like this none in all of Nirn would ever be able to resist their power again.

Sinyalmo nodded to the mage next to him to send up the signal. The mage lit a ball of energy in his hand and sent it skyward. The ball exploded several hundred feet in the air into the shape of an eagle with its wings curved up over its head. After the signal was lit the fleet of one hundred Dominion warships carrying a total of over twenty thousand soldiers sailed forward to the land of High Rock.

* * *

**So a lot happened in this chapter. A lot will happen in the next one too, which is one reason I tried to get this out so quickly. I expect the next chapter to be quite long (I'm going to try to not make it too long though) and will probably take a while to get finished. I also have some things coming up that I need to take care of so that won't be helping.**

**Next time: Jail break from the Red Keep**


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